MISOYAKI BUTTERFISH and SWAI and BARAMUNDI

Friends send me links to possible postings, and I thank them for their advice.  Today, here is one:  MISOYAKI BUTTERFISH.  Residents of Hawaii like it, but do not know much about the fish they are consuming.  According to Hawaii magazine:

There are many fishes around the world called butterfish, but in Hawaii, butterfish is a preparation, not a species of fish.

Then, they contradict what they said:

What you are looking for is actually miso-marinated black cod. (This is another confusing fish name, since black cod is actually a North Pacific sablefish, named for its dark black skin.) 

So it is, then, a specific type of fish.  

According to Sid:

 Here on the west coast of North America in the old days a popular item was the salty orange coloured smoked black cod from Alaska. A new product was encouraged as a non-smoked black cod that really took off and was marketed with the unique name of sablefish.

But is black cod also sablefish, or not?  Well, here is a comparison of Black Cod and Pacific Cod:

Note that Black Cod comes from the Pacific Ocean, but this article goes on to say that Black Cod is not cod, and instead belongs to a whole other family of fish going by the name of Sablefish.  So that is the answer.  Black Cod is Sablefish, or, at least, a type of Sablefish.  They live on the bottom of the ocean and can live close to a century.

Angling Unlimited provides further details about Black Cod/Sablefish:

• from 5 to 40 pounds, and reaches 3 pounds at the age of 3, with high oil content, but fatter from deeper depths
• however, can get up to 100 pounds
• found from 770 to 3000 foot depths, and takes a lot of work to land one

• located at the edge of the continental shelf, the North American side from Cedros Island in Baja California all the way up to the Bering Sea
• also from Kamchatka south to Japan
• migrates over 2500 miles over the course of six or seven years, and eats small fish and worms
• as an angler, you can catch only 4/day or 8/year in Alaska
• Black Cod is a relative of Skilfish, which goes up to at least 200 pounds
• thus, if you see a photo of a 130 pound Black Cod...it is assuredly a Skilfish
• here is a 110-pound Skilfish, 5 feet long

Cost:

Note that the latest price above is for 2016:  2000 yen/kg = $8.25/pound.  Giovanni's Fish Market in Morro Bay, California  sells Black Cod today for $15/pound.

The article goes on to provide details on how to make misoyaki butterfish, with a warning that you need to prepare this marinate a day ahead of time so the fish can soak in a refrigerator:

½ cup sake 
½ cup mirin (sweetened rice wine) 
1 cup sugar
1 cup white miso (fermented soybean paste)

But now that Black Cod is getting somewhat expensive, you will more and more in the future be eating misoyaki Baramundi (photo to the left) or misoyaki Swai.  They both mostly come from the Orient.  I've consumed Swai, in particular, for they sometimes are brave enough to indicate that this is the fish we are consuming at 15 Craigside, though not recently.  It typically sells for $2/pound, and has become one of the most common whitefish sold in the USA.  Swai primarily comes from the Mekong River in Vietnam, where it is farmed.  To quote:

These fish farms are poorly regulated, leading to various issues. The mass production of these fish not only has environmental consequences, but may be detrimental to your health.

Swai is also called Asian Catfish, Iridescent Shark, Basa, Tra and Sutchi.  To get around legalities, Swai is sometimes called Fish, yes, Fish.  Can you believe that, according to one study, 67% of dishes containing unspecified fish in the U.S. is SWAI!  Swai can easily pass for Black Cod, Sole, Grouper and Flounder.

This will stun you, but researchers found Vibrio bacteria contaminating 70-80% of imported Swai.  This form of food poisoning causes severe gastrointestinal distress.  Maybe this is why misoyaki makes sense, for the miso, which is fermented soy beans, 24-hour marination and heat must kill all that bacteria. Whoever concocted this dish was prescient.  There is also uncontrolled use of antiobiotics in these Vietnamese fish farms and I'm afraid even misoyaki cannot overcome that problem.

Swai is also sold as Pangas, Vietnamese River Cobbler, White Catfish and Gray Sole.  The title of this article is DON'T EAT THIS FISH.  But that was a 2008 article.  A more recent Healthline publication says that Swai fish is both affordable and pleasant tasting.  But:

• comes from fish farms in Vietnam
• is scientifically called Pangasius hypophthalmus
• does not have much omega-3 fatty acids
• might contain higher sodium because it is used as a moisture retainer in the processing

• there is mercury contamination
• excellent source of selenium and good source of niacin and vitamin B12
• Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program lists Swai as a fish to be avoided

The bottom line, still, is to avoid Swai.  Here is an article by Utopia, a German newsletter, published on 31 October 2019--Swai Fish: 5 Reasons Not to Eat Pangasius.  One is Swai Fish Suffer a Cruel Death.  I'm afraid all the fish you eat suffer a cruel death.  Same for  meats and vegetables.

What about Baramundi?  Dr. Oz says this fish is in his top five of superfoods to eat now.  The other four are sweet potato, turmeric tea, mangosteen and mustard greens.  Baramundi generally comes from Australia and this variety mostly eats plankton, avoiding mercury-packed smaller fish.  It is a light, flaky and delicious white meat fish.  Australis provides a couple of counterpoints to Oz, but they are picky.

Baramundi originated in Australia, but has become so popular there that this fish is now imported.  It is now farmed in Singapore, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Israel, Thailand and the U.S.  Interestingly enough, that same Seafood Watch labels Baramundi from both the U.S. and VIETNAM as "Best Choice" for their sustainability program.  So Swai....BAD........while Baramundi.....GOOD.

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