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What the Heck is SWAI ?

In Pricesmart today I saw a bag of frozen white fish filets labeled as SWAI. 'What the heck is SWAI ? So I Googled it and found out someone else had the same question and some good answers. Also known as the Iridescent Shark and Vietnamese Catfish.http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2009/01/what-the-heck-is-swai/index.htm

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  • Here in Panama, the local farmed trout seems to be pretty good, and the local trout farms have mountain streams running through them.   However, my favorite local fishes from the local fish market are ocean-caught amberjack and dorado (mahi mahi).

    I will eat red shrimp (wild) here, but not white shrimp (farmed).

    However, my favorite affordable shellfish of this type is langostinos - much bigger and easier to clean than tiny shrimp - it's like a mini-lobster tail, and tastes more like lobster than shrimp.  Sauteed in butter and garlic?  Yummmm.......

    (Side note: Rosalind, the helpful, friendly lady at the Pescado y Mariscos shop near the David airport where I buy my fish and seafood, said that Miguel, the guy who sells fish from the back of his pickup truck near Romero's, doubled his fish prices for lent.  So a lot of people came to her shop for their fresh and frozen fish for lent.)

    When shopping for fish and seafood, remember that fresh simply means not frozen, and can be a couple of weeks old and still called "fresh." 

    Here's what CulinaryArts360 says about fresh vs. frozen:

    What is the difference between fresh and frozen fish? Let's look at the definition of fresh as defined by fishing industry: It is fish that has never been frozen, from catch to market to consumer. It has only been kept chilled until it comes to market.

    Guess how long that is? Again, according to the fishing industry, it usually takes 9 days to come to the market. That is why the question, When was it caught? is important to ask when buying fresh fish. But even more important than that question is to ask where and when was the fish caught? Just think, you are living in New Jersey and you discover that the fish you bought was caught in Baja, California, Mexico and it was caught two weeks ago. Remembering the definition of fresh fish, what does that mean for quality? There is a big difference if the fish were caught off the coast of Maryland and then was shipped to New Jersey.

    What does flash frozen mean? It means that the seafood is frozen at sea in approximately three seconds. It helps the fish stay fresh by freezing the water inside the tissues and by doing that, it keeps the juices and flavor intact. Many fishing trawlers are like fishing factories. Within two hours of the catch, they clean, process it and flash freeze the fish.

    Think about the trawlers that spend 3 or 4 days out at sea catching fish and keeping them on ice. When they come into the seafood processing plant, which fish are the freshest? There is a term used FOT (fresh on top) because they were the last fish caught.

    How to check fish that have been frozen to be sure it has been frozen properly: check its appearance it should be somewhat shiny and NOT have freezer burn spots. Knock on it with your knuckles. It should be as hard as a rock and sound like it. Be sure it doesn't have white freezer-burn spots, which would suggest it had been defrosted and refrozen.

    With fish, you should use food safety hints: When buying fresh fish, look for bruised or brown spots which are indicative of decomposition (when bacteria begins to infiltrate the fish). Or you can buy fresh frozen fish which was caught and frozen at sea before it was sold to the store.

    Reminder: Handle raw fish carefully; do not mix cooking utensils that are used to cook fish with other foods. Wash hands and utensils thoroughly between usages.

    An industry magazine's, (Seafood Leader), editor, Roger Fitzgerald, succinctly summed it up, a fish that's good unspoiled is one that looks, tastes and smells like it just came out of the water. The issue isn't whether the fish is frozen or fresh, but whether it is spoiled or unspoiled.

    • I though this was only the local definition!

      "What is the difference between fresh and frozen fish? Let's look at the definition of fresh as defined by fishing industry: It is fish that has never been frozen, from catch to market to consumer. It has only been kept chilled until it comes to market."

      Learn how to tell if fish is fresh. It is not complicated.

      1. Do not buy fillets be sure you can look a fish in the eyes and that they are clear not cloudy.

      2. Push on the flesh if it does not bounce back leave it

      3. Smell, a fish shod smell like the sea, not "fishy" 

  • For my taste, I think Pricesmart can keep their SWAI along with their Vietnamese shrimp. Another Fish trick in the supermarkets here, by the way, is to sell filets of 'Corvinata' which of course has nothing to do with Corvina or sea bass. Corvinata is shark meat.

  • I don't care for it.  The taste is ok, not "fishy".  I don't care for the consistency, its "mushy", not at all flaky, no matter how you cook it.

    • Another option?

      842688917?profile=original

  • The iridescent shark (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) is a species of shark catfish (family Pangasiidae) native to the rivers of Southeast Asia. It is not a shark. It is found in the Mekong basin as well as the Chao Phraya River, and is heavily cultivated for food there. The meat is often marketed under the common name swai. It has also been introduced into other river basins as a food source, and its striking appearance and iridescence have made it popular with fishkeeping hobbyists. The swai's omnivorous diet consists of crustaceans, other fish, and plant matter.

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