I dropped a note to Trader Joe’s on their feedback form to let them know how happy I am that they carry frozen haddock. Haddock is impossible to find on the West Coast, and it’s the fish for fish’n’chips. Gotta let them know what people like, eh?
I received this reply:
:smack:
How much did they charge? You can get a 5lb box of haddock ingots online for about $9/lb.
What do you use instead, Pacific cod?
Ingots? :dubious:
TJ’s are (were) wild-caught filets at $7.99/pound. I’ve used cod, as it’s the default for fish’n’chips out here. Haddock tastes better, IMO. In the PNW, the choices are true cod, halibut, or salmon. Halibut is kind of expensive, and IMO salmon is too oily for a battered and fried fish. I suppose I could go to a fishmonger and see about ordering haddock, but that would be too expensive for a simple meal of fish’n’chips. The only haddock I’ve seen out here (other than TJ’s) is Finnan haddie at Pike Place Fish Market. Obviously, that won’t do.
So it looks like I’m back to cod.
Ingots:
They’re sold in supermarkets around here, although you can always get fresh and frozen fillets here (Boston).
I’ve never bought the bricks, so I don’t know whether they’re regular fillets formed into that shape, or cut from a larger fillet.
Haddock’s best for fish & chips, no doubt. You could try making codfish fritters instead of using larger hunks of cod, increases the surface area of the coating, so it lessens the fish flavor a bit. I’d never really consider salmon for coating and deep frying.
They’re not as pretty as the fish-shaped fillets from TJ’s. Any chance you could do a taste test? 
Yeah, the salmon thing is something I’ve only encountered up here. Seems a shame to cover nice, fresh, wild-caught salmon with batter; not to mention the oily fish fried in oil (he said, having eaten a chicharrone this morning).
I don’t have a problem with cod. As I said, it’s the default out here and what I grew up with. It’s just kind of bland and boring.
I went to TJ’s yesterday to buy out their remaining stock of haddock. Alas, there was no remaining stock of haddock. But I did get some Way More Chocolate Chip Cookies, some fruit jellies, black licorice, and three ‘Pound Plus’ chocolate bars (milk chocolate with almonds, bittersweet with almonds, and 72% dark chocolate). And the chicharrones and some fresh chorizo as long as I was in town. So snacks for months here!