Media scorpionfish

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Citizen Snips

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i just got about 7 of these little guys in today. im curious to taste them and am looking forward to marinating the livers. they were very pretty but had quite a few barbs on them that caught me one time. i also bought one for my wife and i to cook at home tomorrow night.

ill let you guys know what i thought of it after dinner tomorrow...enjoy

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Those little suckers are kinda evil looking!
 
Nice. I cut four of those fish down about a month ago.

They've been plentiful this summer and inexpensive. Are they from the West Coast?
 
The family Scorpaenidae contains around 45 genera and 380 species.
Characteristics

Scorpionfishes have large, heavily ridged and spined heads. Venomous spines on their back and fins with a groove and venom sack. Well camouflaged with tassels, warts and colored specks. Some scorpionfishes can change their color to better match their surroundings. The stonefish is a master of disguise and deception, it looks like a piece of coral or sand covered rock. Thus he can blend in with its surroundings and go unnoticed by its prey.
Ecology and range

Most scorpion fishes live on or near the bottom. They lie in crevices, in caves and under overhangs. Range: Red Sea , pacific ocean to Australia, Hawaii. A few scorpionfishes (no lionfishes or stonefishes) live in the Caribbean.
Behavior

They feed on crustaceans, cephalopods and fishes employing a lie-in-wait strategy, remaining stationary and snapping prey that comes near. With their mouth they create a vacuum and suck prey in during a nearly imperceptible split-second movement (15 milliseconds).

Some have algae and hydroid growth on their body surfaces( stonefish) and at least one species (Decoy scorpionfish Iracundus signifier) has a dorsal fin that looks like a swimming fish, a behavior similar to that of the frogfish. Some species (for example the weed scorpionfish) sway their bodies from side to side so they look like a piece of debris.

Scorpionfishes are not aggressive, but if threatened they will erect their dorsal spines. If danger continues they flee, usually very fast but only for a short distance and then quickly settle back and freeze. The stonefishes for example ususally bury themselves in sand or rubble using a shoveling motion of their pectoral fins. In a matter of less than 10 seconds only the dorsal portion of the head remains exposed, some sand is thrown on top to further enhancing concealment. Some species like the devilfish have very bright red and yellow colors on the inner surface of their pectoral fins. Those colors are not visible when resting but are flashed if threatened.

Scorpion fishes produce a floating, gelatinous mass in which the eggs are embedded.
 
Raise California state fish the garibaldi
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We have some from time to time at the place where I worked. Got them from Australia.. Didn't like it much though. Kinda tough, hard flesh, hard to describe it really.
 
I love sculpin/scorpion fish. Flesh is finely grained and firm, similar in those respects to Ling Cod.

The one thing I noticed though is that it has to be properly skinned so that the membrane between the skin and flesh is removed; otherwise, when cooked, it will cause the flesh to curl (toward the skin side). It's ok fried, better IMHO when cooked in a moist, gentle manner like steaming or poaching. It's great steamed whole, Chinese style.

Bones make good stock because it's not a oily fish. The cheek meat on larger fish is excellent - nuggets of deliciousness.
 
Raise California state fish the garibaldi
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Hey, we have a state fish also, the humuhumunukunukuapua'a. Haven't seen that on a menu, I think it's considered sacriligeous out here but maybe Alan knows more.

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Never had scorpion fish but it doesn't look very appealing...

Stefan
 
If I'm not mistaken, those are known in New South Wales as red rock cod and are a common bycatch and plentiful and cheap in the markets. They are always sold whole, presumably because they are a pita to clean and fillet.

Traditionally known in these parts as 'poor man's lobster' because the flesh is white, firm and sweet.

Scorpaena cardinalis, according to google, looks like a bottom-dwelling ambush predator (which is a common Australian pastime, btw). I've snagged them once or twice while rock fishing, usually thrown 'em because we were after bream or flathead.


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The one fish i worked with that's not so pretty is Wolf Fish.
but tasty and makes a nice wallet.
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Boy howdy! that is one serious fishy!
 
I swear I just saw that dude at wallmart!! I bet the fish smelt (haha) better!
 
seb-that first one looks a little smaller than the ones i have and here in the states (or at least the midwest) the term "poor mans lobster" refers to monkfish. im not sure if that what you meant or not

bishamon-this is how you cook them. i bought one for me and my wife and took off the filets along with the skin and pan fried it. we served it with sweet potato blue grits, bacon fat braised swiss chard and saffron and vanilla buerre blanc. it was quite tasty with a salad of arugula, baby greens, spinach, almonds, dried cranberry, grapefruit and mango vinaigrette. we drank a white from spain called basa.

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seb-that first one looks a little smaller than the ones i have and here in the states (or at least the midwest) the term "poor mans lobster" refers to monkfish. im not sure if that what you meant or not

B, you read my mind. The fish we get here in the eastern Australian states tend to be smaller than their cousins in the States because the waters around here contain fewer nutrients (ie the desert continent). Eg, we have a fish called tailor which is the same species as American bluefish but significantly smaller.
 
What about steaming or poaching?
 
seb-thats funny, im getting in some bluefish tomorrow...kinda wierd. anyway i wouldn't recommend steaming it as it is a bit flaky. it does have a buttery, mild-medium delicate flavor that would hold up in something to the effect of butter-poaching.
 
Interesting. Is bluefish popular in the States? You never see it in restaurants here. It's considered a cat's fish or poor person's fish. They also make superb fishing bait.

Is flaky bad for steaming? What about steaming whole, Cantonese-style?
 
Right! Monkfish is a $@*! Ugly looking fish.
 
Here we go with the ugly fish again. What is up with these threads? Next thing you know someone will start a thread on Lutefisk.

Not ugly, but it'll make ya.
 
Interesting. Is bluefish popular in the States? You never see it in restaurants here. It's considered a cat's fish or poor person's fish. They also make superb fishing bait.

Is flaky bad for steaming? What about steaming whole, Cantonese-style?

Doesn't really matter if you steam it whole, a la Cantonese. Or you could try a med twist on cantonese style by replacing the ginger, sesame oil etc with capers, olives, olive oil and white wine.
 
i just wouldn't recommend steaming it in any way unless it is right out of the water. in that case i think it would hold up just fine. i just prefer getting some caramel color.

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wreckfish is ugly

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so is monkfish
 
Ugly or not, they look like loads of fun to take a knife to! Which is all that really matters, right? :D
 
no way am I gonna bring that fish home.. Not enough space in the kitchen, not to mention the fright it would give to my family.. They prolly wouldn't even touch them after seeing how they look like before "processing" haha
 
Thats not too far from the truth. Wahoo, dolphin, cobia and big tuna are rather handsome fish, but there are many fish that are delicious but should never be displayed whole at a fish market or supermarket if you intend to sell any of them. Some are so ugly, they have to be given new names, like the Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) and the slimehead (orange roughy) Tilefish, monkfish, and hogfish? Nothing we can do for them other than eat them and enjoy. :lol2:
the ugliest fish always taste best ;)
 
Bluefish is supposedly two steps below kingfish IMO. You can't even say "but its great smoked" and that is BAD because even an old sneaker can be made edible by smoking. People in the Northeast east bluefish, but I think that is more tradition than anything else.........kinda like chittlins'
Interesting. Is bluefish popular in the States? You never see it in restaurants here. It's considered a cat's fish or poor person's fish. They also make superb fishing bait.

Is flaky bad for steaming? What about steaming whole, Cantonese-style?
 
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