Canada Fish?

Nature Boy

I posted a ways back about this killer good fish my wife picks up at the Vietnamese market. Previously labeled Canada Fish. They are white fleshed (very white), and the steaks are sold frozen. Cut about 1 inch thick, and are sort of the same shape as a salmon steak, but larger. In other words the cross section of the fish is pretty much circular. The skin is a slightly bluish dark gray, and it looks like it had fairly large scales. It is firm....not meaty like a swordfish, but meatier than flounder. [p]It grills very nicely right on the grate. Yum.[p]This time it was labeled:
GOD FISH STEAKS
CA CANADA[p]Any ideas what the fish really is?
It is good stuff. Righteously good.
NB

djm5x9

Nature Boy:[p]Cod?

sprinter

Nature Boy,[p]To the best of my recollection, its just Cod. Cod is a very light fish as far as flavor goes and it has a nice texture to it. A good portion of the breaded fish sticks sold are made of Cod. A lot of the fish at fast food restaurants, IE Burger King and the Big Fish they sell, is Cod. Its a plentiful fish and fished commercially fairly heavily.[p]As far as the labeling goes, and not meaning to insult anyones intelligence, Fillets are just that, fillets, the whole side of the fish or a portion of it. Fish STEAKS are made by simply cutting the fish from one side to the other (or perpendicular to the backbone). Personally I prefer the steaks as even in smaller fish you can still get a pretty decent size chunk to cook. The thickness of a fillet is dependant on the size of the fish. However, some fish dont lend themselves to steaks, just because of the shape of the fish naturally. You need a more round fish to steak.[p]On another side note, now that we are near the subject, if you cook fish steaks (or fillets for that matter), be sure to cut out the bloodline that goes down the side of the fish. Its a patch of dark red or brown meat that runs the length of the fish down the side of the fish (on the skin side, not the inner side or bone side). Thats where all of the "fishy" flavor is. Typically, if you have a white flesh fish, cut out any red meat on it at all, ESPECIALLY the bloodline on the side. Bloody meat on fish will taste fishy. Just my 2 pennies for the day.[p]Troy

Nature Boy

sprinter,
I think you and Darryl are probably right. The cod filets I get are mushier than these though. Maybe the steaks just seem more firm. And maybe they were flash frozen extremely fresh, and what I had been getting was fresh that had been sitting on the shelf.[p]If this is cod, it is better than any other cod I have had. Definitely a mild flavor, but it takes seasonings well, and grills up very nicely. Plan on using it regularly. Thanks for the tip. I usually remove most of the dark colored fishy meat too.[p]Cheers!
NB

sprinter

Nature Boy,[p]I grilled some Talapia a few weeks ago and it was GREAT. The wife and I were looking to make some Po' Boy sammiches and the grilled talapia with a nice creole sauce and a nice hoagie roll sure was good. Talapia grills up nice and firm, takes flavors well, and has a nice cooked texture, not mushy at all.[p]On the other hand, last night I tried a new recipe, out of the new Cooking Club of America cookbook. General recipe sounded good, and may be still but it needs modifications in my mind. It was a salmon recipe. The salmon fillet was laid on a piece of foil. Make cuts one inch apart in the fillet, all the way through to the skin, not through the skin though. Then take slices of blue cheese and place them in the slits. Salt and pepper the salmon. Then, roll up the edges of the foil to form edges and pour about a quarter cup of beer on the salmon. Cook it direct over a medium fire (i used 350) for about 20 minutes. About 15 minutes into the cook, add some chopped walnuts adn serve it with some parsley. The idea and flavors were good, however, by adding the beer to the salmon it almost poached it and made it mushy. It had a real soft texture by cooking in the liquid and it was not all that appealing. I plan on doing this idea again only this time I'm going to grill it without putting the beer on it and without the foil under it. Overall a good idea and good flavors and makes for some good 'sperimenting ideas.[p]Troy

FrankG

sprinter,how did you cook the Talapia?I bought some at Wallyworld and have not tried to grill yet

J Appledog

sprinter,
Tilapia is a warm water fish (76-84°), often farm-raised. I doubt that it came from Canada. Maybe pollock? They make surimi out of it in Alaska....

sprinter

J Appledog,[p]Yeah, I kinda took the thread in a different direction. I wasn't saying that the fish NB was curious about WAS Talapia. I think it was just plain old Cod. The Talapia is definitely a warm water fish as you say. I grilled some of it awhile back that tasted great. Sorry about the confusion.[p]Troy

Mop

Nature Boy,Cod fish comes from the North Atlantic Ocean, was the bread and butter industry in Newfoundland....[p]Outstanding fish, be pretty hard pressed to find much better.
You can pan fry the tongues in garlic and butter, they make a fabulous snack,seriously, I know, my dads a Newfie![p]Mop!

Jethro

Nature Boy,[p]I think you are probably the head of all the sea food fanatics on this forum. So check out the link below this is one special tasting fish. My wife calls it bangus or milkfish. On the linked page they call it chanos chanos.[p]It's definitely one special tasting fish and I'll bet one of the Asian stores in your area sales them. I am sure you would really enjoy it and besides you would be doing me a favor when you come up with a great recipe for Eggin it.[p]Keep em Smokin,
Jethro
[ul][li]Milkfish[/ul]

Jethro

sprinter,[p]Never grilled it, but have to agree talapia is one pretty nice tastin fish.[p]Jethro

BBQfan1

J Appledog, An interesting (hopefully) sidebar to your comment about doubting it came from Canada. My buddy's wife's father owned a busing company and they purchased an old canning plant for their new offices. They converted all of it, except for this large concrete bowl that was used for making baked beans in its heyday. It was so large that it would have cost a bundle to have it ripped out. The owner contemplated uses for this big 'pool'. After some research, some modifications were made and they were in the tilapia farming business! The endeavour went on for several years until they realized that they would have to expand or disolve that end of the business, considering that school buses and tour trips were their bread and butter and the tilapia farming an 'interesting sideline'. They shut down the fish farming, but tilapia farming has been done in Canada; whether it continues to this day elsewhere, I'm not sure. This has been a Canadian historical moment brought to you by....
Qfan

J Appledog

BBQfan1, I once had a beau whose family was involved in shrimp farming at a nuclear power plant. Go figure.... JCA

sprinter

J Appledog,[p]Did these shrimp actually look like shrimp or did they look like big orange glowing lobsters with one eye in the middle of the forehead and 8 tentacles on all sides of their head?[p]Troy

Mop

J Appledog, was that the "Bubba Gump Shrimp Cumpny"?[p]Mop!

Mop

Nature Boy, Did I tell you my dads a Newfie?[p]LOL[p]Mop!

Earl

J Appledog,
Bet they had some real big shrimp in those tanks. LOL[p]Earl

J Appledog

sprinter,
All I ever got was a t-shirt, which I gave to another guy, Steve, who was a lot more fun than my beau. I married him 10 years later. He may be a shrimp, but he's wizard with a grill or in the kitchen! JCA

Nature Boy

Mop,
Cod Tongues and Squid. Now ya talkin!
Yeah, this fish is sweet. No more mushy cod filets for me. Steaks are where it is at.