What's the least fishy fish?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My wife comes from a vegetarian family, but since we have gotten married, she has slowly expanded her diet to eat some types of meat. She likes to eat fish – or at least she thinks she does. What happens is she sees a nice piece of fish in the market, or a nice sounding recipe on some cooking show, and says “Robert, can we make this?” So I buy the fish and cook it up. However, as soon as she tastes it, she decides it is too ‘fishy’ tasting or smelling, and refuses to eat more. I finish the meal in solitude. The cycle is repeated every couple months. So far I have crossed off our list of possibilities snapper, perch, and tilapia, and several shellish including mussels, squid and shrimp. Salmon is OK for now, but she will only eat it fresh smoked, and not cooked.

I love seafood myself, and am pretty much an omnivore anyway. Can you smart folks suggest to me any types of fish or shellfish that have very little ‘fishy’ smell or taste?

2

For me, monkfish* is the least ‘fishy’ fish, with a meaty texture and very little odor, and for seafood, I’d say lobster fulfills that requirement in a similar way.

  • Endangered, so I don’t necessarily condone its consumption… that said, it’s bloody delicious.
3

Try some fresh water species - trout isn’t all that fishy.

4

If she doesn’t like shrimp, I don’t think there’s any hope for her.

(Gotta get to Red Lobster this weekend)

My favorite fish is mahi mahi, but I’ve never cooked it myself and rarely had it done right outside of Hawaii.

5

You might also be able to pick or modify recipes that offset some of the ‘fishy’ taste (actually aroma) without overwhelming the general flavour; using a herby cheese sauce instead of a plain white or parsley sauce, for example, or adding some roasted red peppers and/or garlic to a tomato-based sauce that didn’t otherwise call for them.

6

Robert I’m not trying to be a smart ass or anything but isn’t the taste of fish kinda why we eat it?

I understand the “too fishy” comment though. Some fish have a real strong musky flavor that I don’t particularly care for. (ie: sand bass, some catfish, and several salt water species)

I lived on the water for several years in my life and have eaten a LOT of fish. When dealing with “muddy” fish especially. I’ve found that if you will take the fillets and divide them along the lateral line. Remove any dark meat on the fillets, the lateral line and the outer layer (just under the skin) on some fish, & the skin too. Actually, I clean all my fish this way now.

After you clean the fillets thoroughly, put them in a large bowl of cold water and put them in the refrigerator overnight. It’ll get practically all the blood out of the meat and remove the strong flavor as well. Plus, it will firm up the meat for preparation. When you get ready to prepare the fish, simply drain and rinse the fillets off and do your thing.

There are several ways to prepare fish that’ll hide the musk. Some people use mustard, I prefer the overnight soak myself. If you’re going to fry the fish, simply soak them in milk a few minutes before you batter or meal the fillets.

When serving the portions, be sure that your wife get the upper half of the fillets. They tend to be less “fishy”. This works with most white fish very well.

See if you can get some hybrid stripers, they are excellent.

BTW some seasonings like garlic, butter and lemon, while they are very good on seafood and fish, they also enhance the flavor of the fish. So, use them sparingly.

Good luck…

Oh, let me add this. You might wanna try it.

Try grilling a very thick (about 2") fillet of striper on a BBQ grill some time. Cook it slow, flip it a couple of times and when it’s about done put some soy sauce and sprinkle a few of your favorite spices on it. I’ve even used BBQ sauce. Makes a pretty damned good “pork chop” and it’s a lot healthier! :slight_smile:

7

Like jjimm, I would say monkfish. Tastes more like lobster than fish IMO and it also gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that you are eating one of the ugliest monsters in the ocean. I tried to find a picture of a proper-sized one but this little guy was the best I found. I’ve killed hundreds, if not thousands of these bastards and I daresay I will kill thousands more if I get the chance… but I digress. :rolleyes:

If she finds monkfish too er… fishy, you could also try salted fish (cod, for example) and smoked freshwater species can be an absolute treat. I recommend smoked Icelandic freshwater salmon and trout. Both are fantastic, but might be expensive and hard to find.

8

Arctic char is like a milder salmon. I don’t like fish at all, but I love this stuff. It’s expensive, but you can get it down here if you’re willing to pay for it. Oh, it’s nice. I miss living on the Great Slave Lake just for the Char.

9

Good fish tastes fishy. I’d recommend making a recipe that hides the fishy flavour if this is desired. This is easily done if you like spicy food by using tikka sauce, jerk sauce, tandoori sauce, cajun powder, etc.

If spices are not your thing, I would bread the fish to alter the texture and drown it in cheese sauce, pepper, cream or something like that. You could also include it in a stir-fry with the tasty Orange-Soya sauce described in the Moosewood cookbook.

10

Thanks t-keela, I know what you mean. Being a bit of a smart ass myself I have posed the same thing to my wife. I gather she just likes the ‘idea’ of fish. I suppose she would say that in small enough quantities, the fishy flavor is nice. The problem is that she hasn’t yet found something small enough!

I hadn’t heard of most of your tips before. I’ll give them a try.

11

Have you tried a “steaky” fish like tuna or (cheaper option) Wahoo/Ono? Grilled or broiled till it’s still a little touch raw in the middle (pinkish for tuna, translucent for Ono).

Sometimes I like to break it up in chunks, marinate it in a mustard/dill vinagrette, and mix with green beans, potatoes, and tomatoes for a fancy salade nicoise. Yum Yum!

12

My hubby had the same thing…never ate fish until I started cooking it - I buy a whole red snapper, mix a few cups of kosher salt with an egg white or two, pack in underneath and total around fish…bake for about 20 minutes/half an hour …when you take it out of oven, use hammer or knife handle to break open salt, sweep it off with a basting brush - believe it or not, it’s not salty…just really tender.

13

Robert I’ve found that in preparation for cooking of ALL things wild. The most important part is cleaning the meat. I’ve eaten catfish that weighed a 100 pounds and they were great. I’ve had turtle big as a washtub and more venison than you’d ever believe.

Probably the absolute best freshwater fish (IMHO) is a crappie. If you’ll clean that little sucker like I described, let it chill, then get you cast iron skillet and blacken the fillets being careful to serve her the upper portion. If she doesn’t like that.

You come 'round here and I’ll fix y’all some myself. It probably wouldn’t hurt if she had a mixed drink or a glass of wine while you’re cooking. :wink:

Prepare a nice salad w/pasta and maybe some Eric Clapton (or your choice)playing in the background. Atmosphere always makes the meal better.

Good luck.

most women would eat BAIT if their old man would do this once in awhile

14

Hmm. I’m a little surprised at what she is describing as “fishy”. For me “fishy” is scent of the oil or slime coat on the skin of the fish. She must be descibing some sort of other taste because Salmon is VERY fishy smelling and tasting. However, I’d reccomend, Grouper, Cod, Char, Perch, Trout, flounder, Monkfish, and Sole. All of those are a “white meat” fish and the meat itself is mild with little of that fishy taste. Preparation is also key. If she likes fruit, a citrus marinade will eliminate almost all fish oil taste as will soaking and chilling. Cheese and cream sauces work well with inferior fillets or species that are stronger tasting. I’d further reccomend trying Sushi and Sashimi strongly. This will allow her to taste the meat of the fish from a high quality cut, and without much preparation. Strangely sashimi style is the only way I’ll eat salmon at all. Have her try a wide variety of fishes and shellfish. Chances are if you don’t like it sashimi you won’t care for it prepared.

Cheers!

ps. Ice water or wine is best with fish imho. One clears your pallate, the other deadens it a bit. Sodas, and Beers are best served with fried fish, and can leave a weird aftertaste otherwise.

15

Try tuna or swordfish steaks. Their texture is a bit different, so she might like that. Try grilling it too.

Flounder is a very mild fish, and I like it quite a bit. Flounder stuffed with crabmeat is wonderful.

One thing no one has mentioned here yet is the freshness of fish. Fish tastes best when it is very, very fresh. So find the best seafood market you can within a reasonable drive. A fresh fish has a clear eye, a firm skin and next to no ‘fishy’ odor. Buy your fish the same day you are going to prepare and eat it (unless you are planning marinate overnight, in which case you’ll have to buy it the day before of course).

16

I’m a vegetarian who recently started eating fish because I need more protein and I’ve also had a life-long aversion to fish. But, try as I might, I still can’t stand most fish ‘cause they still taste too fishy. The only thing that doesn’t taste (or smell) fishy to me is canned tuna after it’s been mixed with mayo and very fresh sushi. And I do like shrimp if they’ve been deep fried. I’m afraid this isn’t a very encouraging answer tho’…

17

Wow. Nobody has mentioned walleye. Shark is kinda like steak. It’s been mentioned, but lake trout isn’t very strong. I find the fresh water fish to have a different, possibly weaker, taste than salt water fish. It has to be fresh though. I mean, just pulled it out of the water today kind of fresh. I’m picky about fish too, and I can tell old fish. Since I’m in Minnesota, any salt water fish here is crap to my sensabilities.

18

BTW, women of childbearing age are supposed to limit their intake of Swordfish (predator=bioaccumulator=toxins). It’s also a heavily overfished species… and it’s also very expensive.

19

What? No votes for halibut? If you can find it fresh you should give that a shot. Walleye is also a great tasting fish but I find it similar to perch and you already ruled that one out.

Have you tried lobster?

20

Catfish is a good one, I think. In my opinion it doesn’t taste fishy at all. But of course I am not sure you can get it everywhere, though.