Would you rather eat...

[Big Vern]

A sea robin, a skate, or a dogfish?

I for one would avoid all of them, but if a gun was to my head, I'd be eating some skate.

[chris L]

this is scary a guy named Don Corleone asking what Id eat if I had a gun to my head . What was in my pants if I had too .

[JohnR]

Mass has / had a big Dogfish fishery - most of it went over to England for fish & chips. Supposedly the Brits don't mind.

Sea Robin wasn't bad. Skate supposedly isn't but it was my arch enemy back when I dunked bait - not going to try it now...

[fishweewee]

Skate wings are very meaty and wonderful to eat - if you prepare them correctly. They are like sharks - no kidneys - so you must bleed/soak the wings ASAP or you get the ammonia problem.

Dogfish is delicious. Ask the Brits.

Sea Robins are ugly but pretty good eating!

Big choggies are delicacies!

I have yet to meet a trash fish I didn't like ... on a plate.

-WW

[Homerun04]

Dogfish.....fins down.

[mikecc]

I agree with wee wee

Skate wings

[STEVE IN MASS]

Only had skate once...and again, it was an unfortunate time that I decided to keep one, as I couldn't eat it fresh, and I had to have it after it was frozen.....however, they have come into much popularity as of late. I have a bunch of recipes that I cut out of the Boston Globe for it about 2 years ago, and if you do a search on the TV Food Network website, Ming Tsi (or however you spell his name, the guy that has that resturant in Wellesley that you need to make reservations for about 3 months in advance, and then bring your entire bank account with you) did a whole show on skate. Would give it a go again, only have it the same day I caught it.

Very strange fillets you get from them.....the meat is almost layered.....tough to explain....

[breakfast fish]

would u rather eat monk, angler, blowfish, or even sea urchins? people just need to be more open of the food that is available to us fresh not frozen, dehydrated, canned, or yeah i love this one fresh frozen. funny when i had alligator it was like a chicken meat texture but resembles a fish meat. ostrich which is really low in fat, but could pass for beef. funny how things sort of taste alike if u just close your blinds and open up and say aaahhhhhhh.

[STEVE IN MASS]

Monkfish is fine....some call it the poor man's lobster..... I guess from the texture, cause it doesn't really have much flavor on it's own.....only what you impart upon it in the preparation. (Garlic Butter.....yum). I do believe monkfish and anglerfish are one in the same.

Blowfish.......... give me all ya got!.....used to catch them by the boatloads in Jersey when I was a lad (not the 40+, fat, bald, beer swilling guy I am now....)....one of the sweetest and tastiest fish I ever had....and prep was simple....bread and fry....yummy!

Never had Sea Urchin, but would try it in a second.....hey, I 'll try most anything at least once......

[fishweewee]

Ah, don't get me started on blowfish. Very sweet meat, I'll keep all I catch, fry 'em up with Panko Japanese bread crumbs.

Urchins. YUM! When the tide goes down on our seawalls and jetties, this is the time to pick live urchins, crack 'em open and scoop out the wonderfully fresh gonads. "Uni" if you're into sushi. I like the West Coast urchins better (=$$$) but the ones we have here just dandy.

-WW

[RickBomba]

Monk is great, prepared in many differnt ways; try oven roasted with artisan smoked bacon and a tarragon beurre blanc. I used to charge upwards of $35 for it when I worked at the Cape.
Skate is so underrated...I also charged $25 for it, sauteed in brown butter with capers and Italian parsley. Look out, it's great.
The only problem was all of the people who ate @ Abbicci spent their less than lucrative childhoods on the Cape catching skate with discorn. Nobody would buy it no matter how cosmopolitan they had become.
Bottom line...anything tastes good, if the preparation is right.
Later,
Rick

[breakfast fish]

oh, we have a feew food conoiseurs.....can't wait when the restaurant needs a few good daily specials....... fresh narragansett sea urchins over a bed of mesculin greens finished with beluga caviar / "dead or alive" test your lives with sea speared blowfish./ steamed skate wings in banana leaves binded with sambal chilies.

[STEVE IN MASS]

Originally posted by breakfast fish
"dead or alive" test your lives with sea speared blowfish

I noticed in the other thread you said you are Asian.....

The blowfish (aka, blowtoads, American pufferfish (?), etc.) that I caught in Jersey didn't have that risk.....they are of a different breed than the Asian "blowfish", where, yes, from what I hear, you are taking a chance if they are not cleaned correctly....something about the kidneys or liver that can be deadly......the American blowfish caught on the east coast (mostly from Jeresy southwards) does not carry that risk......

[fishweewee]

Yep, what Steve said. No fugu here.

You gotta be nuts to eat that tetrototoxin-bearing Japanese fish.

-WW

[MakoMike]

All of them sound good to me. But If I had to choose one over the others it would be skate. I never throw a big skate back. But they have to be big to have enough mean on them to bother with. The meat tastes and has a texture like scallops.

[Goose]

I love fried skate wings.....yuuum-E

[Van]

[Jenn]

never had any of the above...however I was told many a time how good skate was (snarling at the thought, from the fishing point of veiw) but I had this seafood cookbook that had a recipe and I said...yeah ok I will give it a try....

so I catch a skate and I am excited for this new adventure I am about to go on.....

so I try to figure how the he&& to acquire the meat from these freaks of nature...after about 15 minutes of getting nowhere fast, almost cutting my own arm off (and I am pretty decent with a knife) I decide this is for the birds so I threw it away!!! (which isnt my style...if I keep a fish I eat it...waste not want not)
what did I gain?? well a whole lot of nothin...other than a nasty itching, burning, rash over my hands and forearms!!!! their skin is nothing short of the devils work!!!

[MakoMike]

Jenn,
There really isn't much meat on them, which is why you need a really big one. The only meat worth going after is on the top of the wings, right next to the body. Insert your knife next to the body and work it in like you were fileting a flounder.

[Steve K]

I love skate. It has a very light taste and it is very popular right now in high end restaurants.
As far as fugu goes, I had it in Japan and I was not impressed. It is very mild with little taste. I would much rather have otoro or uni anyday.
What is incredibly good is monkfish liver. It is very rich and similar to foie gras in taste and texture. This thread is making me hungry.

[Steve K]

BTW, it is an urban myth that unreputable restaurants punch out circle shaped pieces of skate and pass them off as scallops. A skate wing is mostly cartilage and this would be impossible.

[BasicPatrick]

Skate wings have been and are punched out cookie cutter style to make imitation scallops. I am not sure how the legal thing works but I am sure that most of us have eaten Skate dressed up as a scallop when we were young and ate BS frozen pre packaged styrofaom like seafood.

[BasicPatrick]

another one,

It is pretty general knowledge that Pollack is frequently used to make imitation crab meat...other species are also used to make the red dyed imitation crab meat

[Steve K]

BasicPatrick,

Not true about skate wings being passed off as scallops. It is an urban myth. See post above.

[MakoMike]

Steve K,
No myth, I've seen it done. They don't punch out from the whole wing, they take off the meat per my instuctions to Jenn above and then punch the "scallops" out of that.

Patrick,
The pollack they use for surimi (imitation crab) is pacific pollack caught in the bearing sea, not the fish we catch around here.