Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Dropped a hook and worm into the big system yesterday and pulled out two silvers. Made a Portuguese style dish inspired by Colins posts above. It was very good

I just tried the first of my SP's.....OMG.....Delicious!
I simply scaled and filleted a medium sized fish (460g, or about 1lb), covered in corn flour with a touch of salt and panfried. Firm, white, clean tasting flesh with a delicate sweet flavour, a bit like flathead only better. No oiliness whatsoever.
I'll be bumping 3 more on the head for entree on New Years eve and I can hardly wait. (I just found out Mrs Nhibbo didn't sleep well last night because I'd casually mentioned that we'd be sampling the first fish today). She was almost in tears as she tried the first taste, but agrees that they are very good eating. I think she is turning buddhist....more fish for me LOL.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread mate, I’ve a tank of sp’s that need to be thinned and have had mixed reports on their taste. Nearly sampled a couple the other day when the timer failed.

Great result. Did you bother purging, out of interest? They were always well sort after in the Murray Darling system before they declined and are now off the list.

I truly hope they’re nice tasting after getting another 20 to add to the 15 I’ve already got. I do have a smoker that I used on trout if I have to.


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I've also just set up with 35 of about 70mm fingers of SP.

Wont be impressed if they dont taste that flash!



Scotty

I've eaten heaps of silver and jade perch from my system. Have never purged them and they've always tasted great... and my nitrates are always on the high side (some advise that this can impact on taste).

These days I smoke almost all my perch... not because of any problems eating them baked, grilled or fried with just some lemon and maybe a herb or two. Just that they taste great smoked. The fact that they're they're relatively oily helps with the smoking too.

Hmmmm,

Smoker is something on my must have list...

Hi Asitis, I wondered about purging, but with the first, I decided to try without. If they were "off", then I'd purge in future, but really, no need.
Liney, you have nothing to worry about. They are really good.
I cooked up 3 more (500 to 600g) on NYE the same way, but on the BBQ. I did't get the temp quite high enough and though they were still good, they were a bit oily. I'll make sure that I get the pan hot next time to get a crispy skin.
I found the flavour delicate and sweet (as I said, similar to, but better than flathead) so I'm a bit reluctant to smoke them. Living by Port Phillip Bay, I love catching and smoking Australian salmon which sadly are not great any other way.

BTW, there was no grimace or tears from Mrs Nhibbo as she ate her fillet on NYE....Winner!

Mine were delicious.

I lightly salted mine after filleting and put them in the fridge for a day.

Also as with any fish flesh, any dark meat will be gamey tasting.

Just remove it, or eat around it if you are cooking it whole.

The same applies for the dark strip above the spine of rabbits or pretty much anything else. Remove it, and you remove the game flavour.