Don't Like Fish/Seafood?

Rayug

100+ Posts
I am sure there are others here who do not like seafood and/or fish, but I have tried many times to figure out some appetizing dishes with fish/seafood to cook at home. (with little success)

Many times while traveling for business and we go to a seafood place, I'll try a fish dish or something else from the sea and it's very hit or miss. I have had yellow fin tuna that was pretty good, but I've had salmon that was just overpowering in smell mostly. I would say that the smell is the #1 reason I can't stomach seafood, the other is that many times, fish is somewhat bland. I grew up eating spicy things in Texas..I don't want to eat something that doesn't have a lot of "good" flavor.

Anyone else have this issue? Maybe have a particular fish that they can cook at home that has no smell after cooking and good flavor? One thing I don't like is that my kids pick up my dislike for fish so they automatically don't want to try any..though I push them to try it and tell them it's okay if they like it and I don't. But if we aren't cooking it at home they don't get the chance very often.
 
snapper. I will say that if fish just don't taste good to you, there's nothing wrong with not eating it.
 
I can't stand salmon. I'd have to say snapper may be my favorite. My favorite is still probably the fried cod from Luby's. I know, I know. Childhood.
 
You need to eat seafood at places that specialize in it. At restaurants where it's an after thought, it's most likely not going to be fresh and that's the biggest part of good seafood.
 
Fish that smells "fishy" at the market is going to taste like used kotex after you cook it, no matter how you season it. Fresh fish should smell like the ocean or nothing at all.

I've found that folks that say they don't think they liked fish have really like the tilapia filets I've cooked for them. Tilapia has firm, flakey white meat.

Take fresh filets, split them in half lengthwise, and remove the small strip of red flesh. Rinse under the tap and pat dry. Season liberally with Bolner's (Fiesta) steak seasoning and black pepper on both sides and saute in 2-3 tablespoons of canolla oil for 3-4 minutes per side, depending on thickness. Drain on paper towels and enjoy.

Luby's liver and onions, jalapeno cornbread, mac and cheese and lemon meringue pie with mass quantities of unsweetened ice tea.
 
where do you live rayug?

my wife is a very picky eater and would not eat any kind of seafood for years. i was eventually able to get her to starting eating fish by convincing her to try a few dishes in austin. i could make some reccs for places/dishes that worked for me if you are in austin
 
I hate salmon too. It is really fishy tasting. I believe that is because of the high oil content.

My favorite mild fishes are Tilapia, grouper, red snapper and cod/scrod.


HEB Sells this great Green apple, mango, habanero sauce that goes great on top of those mild fishes that will add just enough spice to them and make them tast great.Enjoy
 
I live in Western NC, between Asheville and Boone. So not really a mecca for seafood/fish. If you buy frozen fillets do you have to thaw them then cook? The post on the grilled fish with mounds of salsa on top sounded pretty good. Being in such a rural area, fresh fish is not easily obtained. (Unless you catch some trout in a local creek.)
 
Google "Shrimp Paesano" and you will find a good recipe (supposedly stolen by Joe Cozniak's estranged wife) that you can easily adapt to firm fish filets.

Yes, you need to thaw fish before you cook it.
 
Well I got a few ideas for a couple of things we can try here at home. Thanks..

I use to catch catfish in Texoma all the time, but I was never partial to it. From the people I use to give them meat to, they always wanted crappies more then catfish.
 
Wild-caught catfish can tend to have a smell and taste like the muddy bottom of the water they live in. Farm-raised catfish are a safer bet in my opinion.
 
Yellow Fin Tuna is great, but fairly high dollar. Things to try at restaurants are versions of Cod, Snapper, Halibut, and Mahi. They are all rather mild in the fish world, so pay attention to how they prepare and serve them. Personally, I like them when they haven't had much done to them.
 
They were channel cats (we stocked them), but they had been living in muddy water in a stock tank. Another time the cats had been on one of those "you catch 'em, you bought 'em places so they weren't even wild in that episode.
 
Nick
Try coating the fillets with plain old yellow mustard before you roll in corn meal. I use Plochman's mustard and really slather it on. You'll be amazed that after frying, there is no mustard taste and the muddy taste will be gone.
 
Yes, mustard works wonders for taking out the fishy taste! The mildest fish are sea bass, crappie, orange roughy and halibut. You haven't lived till you've had fish and chips (fresh halibut) in Alaska!!! MMMMMM!
 
Y'all forgot Luby's coconut meringue pie!

And Rayug, I am so jealous of where you live. I was a little south of that (I think) this summer in Cashiers and Highlands, and it sure beat the 60+ days of 100+ in Austin!
 
Yeah we love it here...I miss Texas (especially the food) but as an example the last few weeks we have averaged a high temperature around 80. I played golf last Friday and it was beautiful out..even when I finished around 1pm it was sunny with cool breezes. We actually had a few days of lows in the upper 40s last week. Of course the winters can be very cold and snowy.

I am going to try the mustard coating soon and see how that turns out, kids have liked a few things so they are opening up to trying fish more and not dismissing it immediately.
 
I like salmon but we usually grill it. Sprinkle it with ample amounts of salt pepper and ginger (some of the seasoning will fall off when you turn it on the grill so you need to be generous) and grill over hard wood coals started in a chimney so you don't get that obnoxious lighter fluid flavor.

Luby's: Liver and onions, mashed potatoes, okra and butter milk. I know, weird combo but every once in a while a crave liver and onions and that's what I want with it. Luby's is easier than fixing it all at home. Though, I have.
 
Freshwater fish taste better when they are caught in cooler months when the water is cold. A catfish caught in march taste alot better than one caught in August.
 
We have a lot of fresh water stripers in our local lake. They have a red lateral line that if all of the red meat is not cut out, they do not taste very good. When every trace of red meat is cleaned of the filets, they are fabulous. It does not even taste like fish. My husband hates fish but loves stripers the way I prepare them. Deep fried breaded wtih panko bread crumb is fantastic. Grilled, baked, or even microwaved, chilled, and tossed into a salad are other great ways to prepare striper.

I have found the same is true for salmon and catfish. When I buy salmon at the store, I finish fileting the slab of meat by cutting the skin off just like we do when we clean stripers. Salmon have the same red lateral line. Cut it out. Just cut a V in the line until you have cut all the red meat out. Smell of the red meat. It smells muddy. It makes the meat taste muddy.

Larger catfish that we catch ourselves will have a red line especially blue catfish. Cut out all of the red meat. We never keep blue cats over 10 pounds. There is so much red meat to cut off the larger blue cats we just release them.
 

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