Fish recipes for people who don't like fish

[Eric_C]

Sounds odd but we're trying to eat as healthy as possible and there are some good side effects from Salmon and other fishes.

The problem is, I don't like fish unless its fried and even then I'm not excited about it, but obviously that defeats the purpose.

We eat low fat but not fat free. We will make a more rich dinner as long as we offset it during other meals, same goes for sodium so nothing that involves heavy sauces or dripping in butter.

Alot of Chicken and Piedmontese beef has been fantastic for us. We have alot of Middle Eastern salads and prefer olive oil over butter.

Fish is what we are missing...we've tried Tuna Steaks, Swordfish, etc but I just can't get past a few bites without the taste starting to bother me.

So any suggestions? Only requirements are that the portion size is around 4-5g saturated fat and sodium under 1000mg. Those numbers are still pretty high but for the once a week we might have it I can cut down during lunch or breakfast to still hit our targets.

Love spicey food and willing to try anything. The wife loves fish of all kinds so this is just for my consideration.

Thanks

 

[licia]

If you aren't mad about the 'fish taste', you would enjoy tilapia. It has a wonderful taste, but not "fishy". Part of my family almost refuse to eat fish, but love that.

 

[Eric_C]

Thats it, its the fish taste.

Its not even the fact I don't care for it. I don't care for Chicken either, unless its drenched in something bad for me, but I eat it.

Fish taste just gets me almost to the point of gagging after eating more than a few bites.

We'll give it a try tonight.

Thanks!

 

[Robo410]

fish responds well to a teriaki marinade, a Thai peanut sauce, and curry. Broiling fish with such sauces is a quick and flavorful way to go. serve with couscous or brown rice and a favorite greens. quite good.

 

[texasgirl]

you can also rub just about any fish, even the bad fishy, dirty tasting ones with this. You will be very surprised. I use it right before I bread for frying. Let the rub set for the time it takes to heat the oil and then, leaving a thin layer on it, bread as normal. We use Bass pro shop's seasoned package.

1/2 yellow mustard ans 1/2 Frank's hot sauce. I don't know where you are, but, here we have sand bass that is really fishy and I can't eat it.....UNTIL, I tried this. It takes out the dirty taste.

 

[cara]

tex, is yellow mustard something special?
and I asked Frank about his Sauce, but he says it doesn't fit with fish...
so what is Frank's sauce?

 

[amber]

I've use the terryaki sauce like Robo mentioned, along with some scallions and it tastes great. Go easy on the terryaki because it contains sodium I think, but you dont need much, maybe one tablespoon per serving. I like franks hot sauce too, like texasgirl mentioned, though I havent tried it on salmon/other fish.

 

[GB]

How about a fish stew? There are some real good ones loaded with veggies and they can be spicy too. There are often times lots of flavors going on in stews like that so the flavor you don't like could be masked enough that you might not notice it.

 

[QSis]

Eric,

I'm a former non-fish-eater, but I absolutely LOVE this recipe by Tyler Florence. It works well with halibut, haddock, cod, tilapia, and any WHITE fish. Delicious!

I also adore deep-fried fish and chips, but maybe that doesn't fit in with your dietary plans.

Lee

Halibut, Prosciutto, Capers – Tyler Florence

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground salt and pepper
2 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2 slices prosciutto, cut into strips
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons capers
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley plus whole sprigs, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put the flour on a deep plate or in a shallow bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Dredge the fish in the flour. Put a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and the butter and get the skillet hot. Add the fillets and cook until browned on 1 side, 2 to 3 minutes. At the same time, add the prosciutto and cook, stirring, to brown. Then flip the fish, put the skillet in the oven, and roast until the fish is just cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Remove the fish to 2 serving plates. Dump the prosciutto out onto paper towels to drain. Put the skillet back over medium heat. Add another tablespoon olive oil, the white wine, lemon juice, capers, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the parsley and bring to a boil; boil until reduced and thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the fish, top with the prosciutto, and serve immediately.

 

[valnaples]

You might try this recipe from Epicurious for Honey-Ginger Salmon...pretty spicy if you increase the chipotle chiles -- no fat and I'm thinking very low sodium but it may depend on what brand of hoisin sauce you buy. I usually make extra sauce and put it over rice; I line my baking pan with foil, too, helps with clean-up:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/5908

 

[auntdot]

One half of us loves fish, me, the other part does not, but will eat a whole fish in a Chinese restaurant. Have never figured that part out.

So generally I only have fish when we go out, which is not often anymore.

Love fish any way, including sashimi. Never order sushi, just gimme the raw fish.

Although I love the oily fish, the blue fish, the mackeral, those are not the ones for the fish haters. (Although I am not a real fan of salmon, go figure.)

Agree that the white fleshed fishies have less of a 'fish' flavor. And if you fry them, rather than bake or broil, the fish flavor comes through less.

Tilapia and farm raised catfish have about as little fish taste as one could want.

But why bother?

Eric C there are many ways to eat healthy. If you do not like fish, why eat it? You can get protein in many forms; life is too short to eat stuff you do not like.

As for me, I have my mind set on making a mess of smelt.

 

[ironchef]

Why don't you make something like a cioppino, cacciuco, or bouillabase? You can add fish into that, but you won't really get that fishy flavor or aroma because of the shellfish and tomato based cooking liquid.

 

[Eric_C]

Thanks all for suggestion Tiliapa although I can't find the person now who first posted about it.

We had that tonight with a Pineapple spicey salsa. It was great compared to other fish dishes I have had. Took no time to cook and had great consistency when it was done.

Its for sure better than anything else I've had and had no trouble finishing my portion. Just have to cut down on the hot peppers next time, little too spicey

As far as why eat fish when I don't like it....the wife likes Chicken and I only really care for it certain ways, none of which are good for you. Eating low fat and healthy is tough so we balance things out. Having fish tonight means I got to have real sour cream on my baked potatoe versus fat free.

The wife doesn't care for red meat and we never ate much of it because of its saturated fat content. When I found a local supplier for Piedmontese beef my eating life changed, red meat 7 days a week

So, she puts up with beef and I put up with the fish.

Its a 'free' meal for me as far as fat. I had my cholesterol tested and it was 252. I tried all the books and recipes, they all tasted like crap.

We put together our own diet, menu, and system. My bad cholesterol went from 172 to 99 in 8 weeks.

I go out to lunch and have what I want pretty much, just know when I get home I watch very carefully, having this fish allows me more free ranges during the day when its tougher to eat healthy.

Not to mention cost...this stuff is cheap! We buy hormone free organic chicken at 4.99 a lb, our Piedmontese ground sirloin is $9.99 a lb. Enough Tiliapa tonight to feed us both and meet our portion size was $2.72.

Even though I may not care for fish, I do find satisfaction in the compromises we both make when it comes to dinner.

 

[Chausiubao]

I'm not sure if steamed fish has a fishy taste but you can give it a try.

take a tilapia and clean it well, then salt the outside and the inside, and use some sliced ginger on the outside. You'll want to steam it for 10 min or so, up to 15 depending on the size of the fish. While thats steaming. slice up some green onions lengthwise and fry them in soy sauce and olive oil. Then when the fish is done, just plate it and pour the sauce on top.

But thats just the chinese way.

 

[Piccolina]

I'm not the biggest fish lover of all time either, as I child it was the one food that I would not eat (otherwise very adventerous in the cuisine area). As I grew up I began to like some fish like fresh salmon, a great tuna steak and swordfish. One thing I found was that if the fish is really fresh a lot of the smell that so many of us dislike is non existant. A fresh fish smells more like seawater, and should not feel slimy.

Good ways to eat fish without staring a whole fillet (or fish) in the face is to add pieces to a flavourful casserole, use them in Mexican inspired wraps and as part of stir-fry.

A very mild flavoured fish that I just cooked this Saturday is "whiting". It's delicate though, which means a fish spatula comes in handy - or it's great for shreding and adding to dishes.

 

[Chausiubao]

yes fresh fish is always the most awesome thing. Check the eyes, the gills, and the springiness of the flesh. eyes should be all shiny like its alive! And the gills shouldn't be grey yet, but reddish. Or I might be wrong, but thats what my mom told me, and so far it hasn't lead me astray.

 

[jkath]

Eric! I can't handle the taste of fish either, and I really really want to like it!

Growing up in a beach town, we had fish at least once/week and I never liked it. I still don't, but the h really does. The only way I've ever had it where I actually ate my whole meal was some cod that was battered and fried.
There was another time I ate about 1/3 of the meal when it was coated with chopped almonds and had a creamy lemony kind of sauce on top.

I'm quite happy to hear of your tilapia experience with the pineapple salsa! Maybe there's hope for me too!

 

[urmaniac13]

Here is a recipe that I am sure you would enjoy even if you are not a seafood fan. Ocean perch is a firm white fish with very little "fishy odour", plus being cooked with orange zest and juice, what fishiness would have been left get almost perfectly neutralized. It is wonderfully aromatic of the orange flavour, and although we usually use butter for this recipe, I am sure olive oil can be used if you want to keep it on a healthy side. I hope you will enjoy it!!

Orangy Ocean Perch fillets.

• Pat dry, lightly salt and coat the fillets with flour.
• Grate the skin of one ruby orange, and squeeze out the juice and save.
• Sautè the fillet with butter (or olive oil).
• Turn up the heat and pour the juice and the zest, and let the juice almost evaporate (but not completely dry).
• Scoop out the fillets, keep warm.
• Add about a cup of milk in the skillet, let the sauce thicken.
• Pour the sauce on to the fillet, garnish with chopped parsley and enjoy.

 

[jkath]

That really sounds good! Bravo!

 

[texasgirl]

tex, is yellow mustard something special?
and I asked Frank about his Sauce, but he says it doesn't fit with fish...
so what is Frank's sauce?

cara, you nut
Frank's hot sauce is almost like tobasco, but, it has a much better flavor to it. And yellow mustard isn't special over here. It's a condiment we use on things like hot dogs.