# Are sea scallops really made from shark/skate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561 "2001-09-30T01:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/21 "2013-01-08T14:36:43Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, but… that’s not proof. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/22 "2013-01-08T15:41:18Z")
> [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](#): > > …and the reason I’m certain that a food label can’t say “scallops” when it’s really “skate” is not just because I have a lot of faith in the Federal Government, but because shellfish seems to have more rules about possible contamination (bacterial contamination, “red tides”, etc.) than red meat or poultry, because of its short storage time, so I seriously doubt whether the FDA would _say_ “scallops” but really _mean_ “…or skate”. If you think that you’re getting what you order, you’re about 50% mistaken, according to a [NY Times article](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/science/earth/tests-call-mislabeled-fish-a-widespread-problem-in-new-york.html) based on DNA studies. Usually, it’s not the restaurant that’s lying, but further up the supply chain. The more expensive the fish and the longer the supply chain, the higher the likelihood of mislabeling. I’ve often heard the rumor about scallops, but could never figure out how anyone could make any other kind of meat have the very obvious radial configuration of scallops. If I ever ordered scallops (my favorite bivalve!) and it looked like it was cut using a cookie cutter (which would be obvious), the restaurant would hear from me pretty damn fast. No competent chef could cook it without noticing that it was fake. The real shame is that here in the US, they always leave the orange stuff out. What a pity. Meanwhile, I have seen plenty of substitute crabmeat. It tastes good to me and as mentioned above, is a suitable substitute for many purposes. I could probably be fooled by that. I could easily be fooled by a lot of other fish substitutions, but if there’s a cheap and convincing substitute for North Sea Salmon, I wanna know what it is! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/23 "2013-01-08T16:00:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Meanwhile, I have seen plenty of substitute crabmeat. It tastes good to me and as mentioned above, is a suitable substitute for many purposes. I could probably be fooled by that. I dunno, when I was a kid my mom went on a diet that required a certain amount of fish. In search of a little more variety, she brought home some imitation crab legs and imitation lobster tails. They tasted so vile that nobody in the house could stand to eat them, and that included the three cats. Maybe they’ve improved since then, but I’ve never been inclined to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/24 "2013-01-08T16:12:26Z")
Moving to Cafe Society. Note that this thread was started in 2001. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/25 "2013-01-08T16:37:51Z")
I’ve never eaten skate wings…I’m told they contain lots of tiny bones…is this true? Also…there is a persistent rumor here that monkfish tastes like lobster tails-is this correct? There are lots of “underutilized” fish species-most of the time, they are not marketed in fish markets-I suspect most end up as animal feed. Ever had tilefish? I have, but its almost never on the menu. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/26 "2013-01-08T16:51:58Z")
While I have heard of people using skate as fake scallops, I have eaten skate and scallops before and know there is a difference to the taste and texture. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/27 "2013-01-08T16:56:44Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Also..there is a persistent rumor here that monkfish tastes like lobster tails-is this correct? Yes, but monkfish are mostly found in the North_east_ Atlantic so it’s not much cheaper than lobster in the US. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/28 "2013-01-08T17:09:28Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yes, but monkfish are mostly found in the North_east_ Atlantic so it’s not much cheaper than lobster in the US. I have to disagree. Monkfish in general costs much less per _pound of meat_ than lobster. It’s always possible to get a deal on lobsters or monkfish, but typical market prices are much better for monkfish because you’re not buying inedible shell which comprises half the weight of whole lobsters. Also, monkfish is a tasty fish with texture and flavor similar to lobster, but still easy to tell apart. As for the zombie OP, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone cut scallops out of skate wings sometime, somewhere, but skate wings, shark fin, etc., will not taste like scallops, won’t look that much like scallops, and will have a very different texture, cooked or uncooked. Never-the-less, there are many cases where one type of fish is substituted for another, intentionally and unintentionally. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/29 "2013-01-08T17:24:23Z")
Apparently this was something that really did happen but it is easy to tell the difference by the grain. In scallops, the grain is up and down; in phony scallops the grain is horizontal. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/30 "2013-01-08T17:26:16Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve never eaten skate wings..I’m told they contain lots of tiny bones..is this true? Taken literally, it _can’t_ be true-- Skates don’t have any bones at all, as (like sharks) their skeleton is made entirely of cartilage. I don’t know, though, if they might have many tiny bits of cartilage in their wings. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/31 "2013-01-08T17:28:28Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I’ve never eaten skate wings..I’m told they contain lots of tiny bones..is this true? I’ve never eaten skate (that I know of) but I do know that they don’t have any bones. They are cartilaginous, like sharks. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/32 "2013-01-08T17:42:33Z")
The issue of counterfeit fish is a [real one](http://pix11.com/2012/12/11/counterfeit-fish-found-in-100-percent-of-nyc-sushi-bars-study/), but [according to the FDA](http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-01-19-fake-foods_N.htm), they have never found an actual case of skate substituted for scallops. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/33 "2013-01-08T17:43:51Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I’ve never eaten skate wings..I’m told they contain lots of tiny bones..is this true? Also..there is a persistent rumor here that monkfish tastes like lobster tails-is this correct? There are lots of “underutilized” fish species-most of the time, they are not marketed in fish markets-I suspect most end up as animal feed. Ever had tilefish? I have, but its almost never on the menu. The fish caught while fishing for something else are called bycatch or trash fish. Gulf Coast fishmongers & restaurateurs have begun offering these off-the-wall species as they are available. The practice is ethical & sustainable–& also offers [new delicious possibilities](http://www.edibleaustin.com/content/editorial/editorial/971?task=view)… > [@](#): > > The given names of these fish are colloquial delights: sheepshead, barrelfish, spinycheek scorpion fish, tilefish, pink porgy, triggerfish. The diversity of the offerings is a dream for any adventurous cook, but the real lesson of bycatch is that we have a backyard overflowing with obtainable, ample, healthful and beautiful food about which those outside the commercial and recreational fishing industries know virtually nothing. Ironically, several of these fish are only considered “trash” in our specific part of the Gulf. In the eastern Gulf, triggerfish, tilefish and pink porgy are targeted, and the pink porgy has even been overfished in the south Atlantic fisheries. Flounder served as scallops is silly because (1) the fish/shellfish are nothing alike and (2) flounder is hardly considered “trash” here. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/34 "2013-01-08T17:49:34Z")
Wow, I saw this thread and thought it seemed familiar somehow. I think the question asked in the OP has been pretty thoroughly answered by now. > [@ralph124c](#): > > I’ve never eaten skate wings..I’m told they contain lots of tiny bones..is this true? They don’t contain bones, since skates are cartilaginous fish. They do contain many small cartilage rays radiating out from the fish, which stiffen the entire ‘wing’ and which are a royal pain to remove if you’ve bought a whole skate wing from the store to cook. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/35 "2013-01-08T18:50:21Z")
> [@mactrickmrown](#): > > I signed up just to respond to this thread. I’m a fisherman, and I also worked as a foreman down at a fishing boat dock on Long Island for many years. Growing up as a kid, I always heard this story. Never thought much about it, because I could care less if I were eating real scallops, or sea skate/manta. A lot of crab sticks are made from pollock and jimmy crack corn. If it tastes good, what difference does it make? > > HOWEVER! One year, a big manta ray swam into the fishing boat harbor and was living in there for quite some time. One of the boat mates caught it one day, pulled it aboard his boat, and started carving it up. I asked him what he was going to do with it, and he told me he planned on cutting up the wing meat to sell as scallops. Also, with the abundance of sea skates, and the fact that no one eats them over here otherwise, I’m sure it happens more than we know. Maybe not at grocery stores who likely purchase farm raised scallops, but I’m sure restaurants and local fish markets either get duped, or just willingly go along with the ruse. An untrained eye isn’t going to know the difference, and the taste is relatively similar when it is prepared as scallops would be prepared. > > So you wanted proof. There it is. It does happen. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Welcome to the SDMB, but… that’s not proof. Hey, anecdotal sightings are always welcome, as long as they’re identified as such. Half this thread is them. And he’s got street cred. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/36 "2013-01-08T20:13:26Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Also..there is a persistent rumor here that monkfish tastes like lobster tails-is this correct? There are lots of “underutilized” fish species-most of the time, they are not marketed in fish markets-I suspect most end up as animal feed. Ever had tilefish? I have, but its almost never on the menu. Monkfish is pretty common in restaurants in the UK and Europe - is that the case in America? It’s a very “meaty” fish but I wouldn’t say it tastes all that much like lobster. It’s very nice in its own right though, and a lot less hassle than picking meat out of a lobster. They are seriously [ugly](http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/food/ic/food_16x9_608/foods/m/monkfish_16x9.jpg) beasts, so you don’t tend to see them whole… Which reminds me, more related to the OP, “scampi” is a common pub food and is supposed to be [langoustines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scampi), but it is mostly known as fairly tasteless nuggets of white fish covered in breadcrumbs. Supposedly quite a lot of it is actually just [generic white fish](http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/what-really-is-scampi.html) cut into chunks. Sorry, “goujons”. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/37 "2013-01-08T20:21:59Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Which reminds me, more related to the OP, “scampi” is a common pub food and is supposed to be [langoustines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scampi), but it is mostly known as fairly tasteless nuggets of white fish covered in breadcrumbs. Supposedly quite a lot of it is actually just [generic white fish](http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/what-really-is-scampi.html) cut into chunks. Sorry, “goujons”. Scampi is usually refer to a style of dish, I assume based on the original lobster dish. Here in the US you’ll find shrimp scampi so common that most people would just assume scampi means shrimp. And the wide variety of ways it’s prepared would lead people to assume scampi as a style of cooking is meaningless also. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/38 "2013-01-08T20:26:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Scampi is usually refer to a style of dish, I assume based on the original lobster dish. Here in the US you’ll find shrimp scampi so common that most people would just assume scampi means shrimp. And the wide variety of ways it’s prepared would lead people to assume scampi as a style of cooking is meaningless also. In Britain it’s just called “scampi”, e.g. “scampi and chips” which is ubiquitious in pubs. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/39 "2013-01-08T22:05:29Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > I don’t know much about the scallop trade, but I’ve heard consistently that ratfish is often sold by some fishermen as ‘whitefish’ or some such. I don’t have an official cite, though, but it does seem reasonable in that ratfish is not exactly the most marketable name for a seafood item. “[Whitefish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitefish)” is just a generic name for any of a number of types of fish that are white flesh and generally bland. That wiki doesn’t mention ratfish as being sold as whitefish, but does mention two other chimaerae species. (Ratfish is a chimaerae, a kind of shark.) > [@Colophon](#): > > Which reminds me, more related to the OP, “scampi” is a common pub food and is supposed to be [langoustines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scampi), Wow, I was unaware that “scampi” is really supposed to be a specific type of lobster. My encountering of it is via seafood places referring to it as a method of cooking, typically shrimp. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Scampi is usually refer to a style of dish, I assume based on the original lobster dish. Here in the US you’ll find shrimp scampi so common that most people would just assume scampi means shrimp. And the wide variety of ways it’s prepared would lead people to assume scampi as a style of cooking is meaningless also. Disagree. The dish is typically shrimp scampi, i.e. shrimp prepared in the scampi manner. Occassionally other things cooked scampi, i.e. sauteed in garlic butter. Thus the correlation of scampi to cooking method. Shrimp can be prepared any number of ways, but I have never heard of boiled scampi, fried scampi, popcorn scampi, etc. Never seen scampi substituted for shrimp, only seen it used as a descriptor of sauteed in garlic butter. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561/40 "2013-01-08T22:17:38Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Disagree. The dish is typically shrimp scampi, i.e. shrimp prepared in the scampi manner. Occassionally other things cooked scampi, i.e. sauteed in garlic butter. Thus the correlation of scampi to cooking method. Shrimp can be prepared any number of ways, but I have never heard of boiled scampi, fried scampi, popcorn scampi, etc. Never seen scampi substituted for shrimp, only seen it used as a descriptor of sauteed in garlic butter. YMMV. Sorry, poor wording on my part. I didn’t mean that people believe ‘scampi’ is a synomym for ‘shrimp’, rather that ‘scampi’ means ‘shrimp scampi’ by default. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sea-scallops-really-made-from-shark-skate/84561.md?page=3)