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What Australian fish tastes like haddock?


Guest elledownunder

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Guest elledownunder

I am really missing the taste of haddock and am desperate to find some nice white fish. Also miss fish like plaice and sea bass and not sure if you can get them here? I'm quite new to Australia and really didn't realise the fish would all be different over here! Doh! I have never heard of most of them and have been living of salmon because it is the only one I know!

 

Also I have noticed in Coles and Woolworths the fish are on ice behind a counter. Are there no packaged fish fillets (like the packets of two fillets of cod/haddock/pollack that you get in Sainsburys back home)? I am looking for the cheaper fish because I'm on a budget!

 

If someone could give me advice on what the different fish are called and what they taste like (maybe compared to fish you get in the UK) I would really appreciate it. I am in Adelaide if that makes any difference to what fish is around.

 

Thanks!

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I miss good old cod! I have bought lots of different fish since being here and really like whiting which comes crumbed like cod and haddock. It isn't very strong tasting unlike much of the white fish I've tried so far. You can buy it in packets - there is usually a section in both the frozen and fridge areas. Flake is also nice.

Edited by DBC
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Sorry fish is different here. Blue Grenadier is nice, Gem Fish is also nice. We buy smoked haddock from South Africa its in packets in Aldi or you can buy similar at Coles. I tend not to buy fresh fish from the supermarket, would go to as fish shop or the market for fresh fish. I buy frozen hoki from New Zealand its ok as well.

 

You just have to get used to different tasting fish.

 

My neighbour goes fishing and often gives me a gummy shark, also snapper and flathead.

 

I do not like Mullett would not recommend. Flathead is ok but has quite a lot of bones.

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Barramundi is nice, also Dory is very nice. I think that Hoki is quite similar to cod, I remember that back before we moved over some of the supermarkets were making a big thing of Hoki because of the depleting cod stocks.

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Guest GeorgeD

Barramundi is really nice. Probably my favourite. Whiting seems freely available too (I think Woolies and Coles both do frozen options, not fresh though)

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I am really missing the taste of haddock and am desperate to find some nice white fish. Also miss fish like plaice and sea bass and not sure if you can get them here? I'm quite new to Australia and really didn't realise the fish would all be different over here! Doh! I have never heard of most of them and have been living of salmon because it is the only one I know!

 

Also I have noticed in Coles and Woolworths the fish are on ice behind a counter. Are there no packaged fish fillets (like the packets of two fillets of cod/haddock/pollack that you get in Sainsburys back home)? I am looking for the cheaper fish because I'm on a budget!

 

If someone could give me advice on what the different fish are called and what they taste like (maybe compared to fish you get in the UK) I would really appreciate it. I am in Adelaide if that makes any difference to what fish is around.

 

Thanks!

 

[h=2]What Australian fish tastes like haddock?[/h]Thankfully nothing...(in my opinion a very ordinary tasting fish).....you're in Adelaide...try some King George Whiting....you won't get much better.

Personally I like Coral Trout or Red Emperor here in FNQ or the aforementioned K G Whiting when down south.

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What Australian fish tastes like haddock?

 

Thankfully nothing...(in my opinion a very ordinary tasting fish).....you're in Adelaide...try some King George Whiting....you won't get much better.

Personally I like Coral Trout or Red Emperor here in FNQ or the aforementioned K G Whiting when down south.

 

I would agree with King George Whiting, a fantastic fish. The OP doesn't say where she is but KGW is available here in Perth. I also quite like flathead. Red Emperor, Dhufish are both lovely but on a budget not a good option!

 

Sadly decent fish is expensive and I personally wouldn't buy fresh or frozen from the supermarket and I would go to a fishmonger.

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In Adelaide we bought Nile Perch, in England it is sold as Bassa and I have heard it called other names too. It is a smallish fillet and slightly pinkish in colour but firm to eat and mild flavour. Banana prawns were also good when on offer. Salmon was expensive!

 

We tried a number of other fish and I can't say I hated any of them. The chippy usually had something called butterfish which was nice too along with squid and scallops and salad (never seen those in a chippy at home)

 

Just ask the fishmonger what they are like and buy a small piece to try, start with whatever is on offer!

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Guest GeorgeD

I thought Bassa was sold as River Cobler in the UK...and Nile Perch is, well, Nile Perch! Never had it. I've had Bassa though, in the UK. To be honest, I thought it was quite tasty and had a nice meaty texture...then I saw a documentary which said that most of the world's Bassa supplies came from Vietnamese fish farms where the fish are pretty much raised on toxic waste infested rivers. This may or may not have been sensationalist journalism of the highest order, but it put me off. Shame, I honestly thought it was quite tasty!

 

Coral Trout is lovely too. Very popular here in QLD.

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I agree about Barra...but my new favourite fish is John Dory (often just called Dory). Our local fish shop sells us nice fresh fillets...3 of them cost between $5 and $7 depending on the size and weight...we treat ourselves to them quite often.

 

Flathead is another really nice one too.

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Guest shaunaforoz

Sorry is Dory not the little forgetful fish out of 'Finding Nemo'....you animals I can believe you are eating poor Dory :chatterbox:

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I am really missing the taste of haddock and am desperate to find some nice white fish. Also miss fish like plaice and sea bass and not sure if you can get them here? I'm quite new to Australia and really didn't realise the fish would all be different over here! Doh! I have never heard of most of them and have been living of salmon because it is the only one I know!

 

Also I have noticed in Coles and Woolworths the fish are on ice behind a counter. Are there no packaged fish fillets (like the packets of two fillets of cod/haddock/pollack that you get in Sainsburys back home)? I am looking for the cheaper fish because I'm on a budget!

 

If someone could give me advice on what the different fish are called and what they taste like (maybe compared to fish you get in the UK) I would really appreciate it. I am in Adelaide if that makes any difference to what fish is around.

Thanks!

 

G'day mate, seeing that you are in Adelaide, try the local snapper and, as Sir Les mentions, the king george whiting.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

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Went to a chippy in Christies Beach(i think Bob:wideeyed:),having a chinwag with the owners,got "fish and chips",wasnt "the same" tbh mate,but it wouldnt be would it to be fair!:twitcy:

Think one was a "gummy shark?"(clueless me mate!),and some other fish,no way was it as good as cod and chips tbh,but d'yer know what was?..............

The owner and his wife ran after us as we were getting in the car and insisted on giving us two pots of their home made tartar sauce and some bits and bobs to try,wouldnt take any money at all.

Then they said "give our love to Ireland",never had the heart to say were from liverpool,REALLY nice touch tho,im sure i'l meet halfwits who dont like poms,but Aus is the ONLY place in the world were people have actually got maps out and shown me where im going and took 5/10 minutes out of their own time.

So much so that i actually felt guilty asking tbh,didnt wanna put them out kind of thing,just wanted general directions...

Anyway,fish and chip related so im not offtopic THIS time!:wubclub::biggrin:

Edited by pablo
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Went to a chippy in Christies Beach(i think Bob:wideeyed:),having a chinwag with the owners,got "fish and chips",wasnt "the same" tbh mate,but it wouldnt be would it to be fair!:twitcy:

Think one was a "gummy shark?"(clueless me mate!),and some other fish,no way was it as good as cod and chips tbh,but d'yer know what was?..............

The owner and his wife ran after us as we were getting in the car and insisted on giving us two pots of their home made tartar sauce and some bits and bobs to try,wouldnt take any money at all.

Then they said "give our love to Ireland",never had the heart to say were from liverpool,REALLY nice touch tho,im sure i'l meet halfwits who dont like poms,but Aus is the ONLY place in the world were people have actually got maps out and shown me where im going and took 5/10 minutes out of their own time.

So much so that i actually felt guilty asking tbh,didnt wanna put them out kind of thing,just wanted general directions...

Anyway,fish and chip related so im not offtopic THIS time!:wubclub::biggrin:

Try smoked haddock in beer batter Pablo ....bet you dont go make to ordinary fish in batter mate.

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Try smoked haddock in beer batter Pablo ....bet you dont go make to ordinary fish in batter mate.

 

Think i bought something similar in Sainsbos tbh pb,nicest fish i ever had was in cornwall on holiday,think that was smoked mackerel freshly caught and cooked on the quayside,quality!

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I thought Bassa was sold as River Cobler in the UK...and Nile Perch is, well, Nile Perch! Never had it. I've had Bassa though, in the UK. To be honest, I thought it was quite tasty and had a nice meaty texture...then I saw a documentary which said that most of the world's Bassa supplies came from Vietnamese fish farms where the fish are pretty much raised on toxic waste infested rivers. This may or may not have been sensationalist journalism of the highest order, but it put me off. Shame, I honestly thought it was quite tasty!

 

Coral Trout is lovely too. Very popular here in QLD.

 

Basa, as i understand it is a freshwater cat fish, normally from Vietnam, so it feeds on the bottom of rivers? I think it was unfavourably taxed in the USA where it was competing too well with their own native catfish, then the UK was suddenly flooded with it (and Oz it seems).

I like it...it's meatier and you can cook it without it falling to pieces or flaking, but it's competing in an established market where some other producers are going to be upset with the competition.

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I am very fussy about fish, and I never buy Basa, mainly because it fish farmed in Asia. I tend to only buy tinned fish form Canada, USA etc.

 

Also not a fan of the warm water fish mainly because some of them have the food poisoning thing that is hard to detect and kills people, not a lot of people mind but I do not want to be one of them lol.

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I am very fussy about fish, and I never buy Basa, mainly because it fish farmed in Asia. I tend to only buy tinned fish form Canada, USA etc.

 

Also not a fan of the warm water fish mainly because some of them have the food poisoning thing that is hard to detect and kills people, not a lot of people mind but I do not want to be one of them lol.

 

That would be ciguatera poisoning. It manifests itself from some types of coral, or algae from certain corals; the small fish get it from the coral, bigger fish eat smaller fish and so on. It is most prevalent in and around Hervey Bay, among the spanish mackerel. I catch mackerel all the...well, most of the time and in the 13 years I've been in the Mackay area, have not come across it.

Oddly, my mate and his wife went to a wedding where a plate of crumbed fish was on the entree table. Both took a piece, she got ciguatera, he didn't.

 

Mostly predatory fish have the poison and a few fish species are on the Poisonous List; the chinaman, the red bass and paddletail.

 

Ciguatera is not known in Western Australia, or, at least, I have never heard of it from there.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

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Guest SusanW

Hi, not sure where you live but there is a great British fish'n chips shop at Birkdale in Queensland.

Everything is imported, even the fish fryers. You can get haddock, cod and plaice, plus scampi,

and a few other delicious treats like haggis.

They also have a shop where you can get good bacon and buy the fish frozen, pork pies, sausages etc.

Chumley warners is the name.

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Hi, not sure where you live but there is a great British fish'n chips shop at Birkdale in Queensland.

Everything is imported, even the fish fryers. You can get haddock, cod and plaice, plus scampi,

and a few other delicious treats like haggis.

They also have a shop where you can get good bacon and buy the fish frozen, pork pies, sausages etc.

Chumley warners is the name.

 

Mmmm. And I bet you're Mrs Warner..:wink:

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Have any of you guys tried Chumley Warners? I was looking forward to going but it was a Monday night when I turned up and it was shut.... anyway, I've spoken to a few folk since, who live round that area, and they said it was very greasy and not that great.... still want to give it a shot though at some point, I haven't had a fish supper since 2011. Lol.

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Guest GeorgeD
Have any of you guys tried Chumley Warners? I was looking forward to going but it was a Monday night when I turned up and it was shut.... anyway, I've spoken to a few folk since, who live round that area, and they said it was very greasy and not that great.... still want to give it a shot though at some point, I haven't had a fish supper since 2011. Lol.

 

Yes I've been...and they are shut every Monday!

 

I find them a bit unpredictable...when they are good they are really good, but you do get the odd occasion where things just aren't cooked right, greasy soggy chips, etc. I had a white pudding a few weeks back and it was great, nice and crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. Two weeks ago I had a black pudding and the batter was soggy and like mush. They do haddock, so my wife loves it...although the chips can be a bit hit and miss. We go through phases of going there, and it's probably about 80% of the time good.

 

Like everywhere in Oz, they close ridiculously early...7.30pm Tues-Thurs and 8.30pm Fri/Sat (Sunday is 4pm I think) and closed on a Monday.

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