What the Hell is a "Butterfish?"

[TomW]

Every restaurant seems to be serving butterfish. I've eaten several specimens at a variety of establishments and every time I ask what it is, I get a different answer? The dishes taste differently at different restaurants so I'm wondering if it is a method of preparation. There ain't no butterfish swimming in the sea.

[chuckinca]

A Stromateidae.

Stromateidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfish)

.

[PaPaLarry]

They swim in Butter!!!

[getdul981]

They swim in Butter!!!

And goldfish swim in gold, and moonfish swim on the moon?

[asianthree]

this was a big thread awhile ago...fish mongers says resturant will call many different fish a butterfish...

[batman911]

Cod.

[travelguy]

I remember having something in Key West called Butterfish. It was delicious and over-priced.

[thelegges]

lighthouse has good butterfish or whatever it is

[Barefoot]

A Stromateidae.
Stromateidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfish). .

What a great response.

[wendyquat]

I really enjoy the "butterfish" at Lighthouse but noted the fish filet was nothing like the little shiny butterfish available to us in eastern NC. I wanted to replicate the Lighthouse dish and have come very close using Swai found frozen at WalMart.

[Jwatk]

It sounds like what New England does, they call schrod the catch of the day.

[Neal2tire]

small pompano like thin salt water fish.
Good taste. Sweet.
But then again depending on regions fish
have different names. Example
Ono (Hawaii) same as Wahoo

Striped Bass same as Rock fish
Tautaug same as Blackfish
and many more.

Neal G

[Neal2tire]

scrod like small cod.
Very similar. Holds up to frying
and using for fish and chips.
In a side by side tasting most prefer
scrod.
Sweetbay has amazing quality Cod and Scrod
and salmon. Out of there dozens of stores ours
in the Villages sells more then any others so they
have first pick.

[donb9006]

80% of fish sold is mislabeled...according to a story I read somewhere.

[casita37]

I really enjoy the "butterfish" at Lighthouse but noted the fish filet was nothing like the little shiny butterfish available to us in eastern NC. I wanted to replicate the Lighthouse dish and have come very close using Swai found frozen at WalMart.

I grew up in eastern NC, and my family was full of commercial fishermen, so there was often a platter of "fish" on the table. My mother would pick through to find the butterfish for me because it was my favorite.

I read recently that another name for black cod is butterfish. No idea if it's the same fish I ate as a kid...it's NOT actual cod...but black cod is one of the healthiest fish you can eat. It's really high in omega 3's.

@wendyquot, where are you from?f I am from Hyde County.

[wendyquat]

I grew up in eastern NC, and my family was full of commercial fishermen, so there was often a platter of "fish" on the table. My mother would pick through to find the butterfish for me because it was my favorite.

I read recently that another name for black cod is butterfish. No idea if it's the same fish I ate as a kid...it's NOT actual cod...but black cod is one of the healthiest fish you can eat. It's really high in omega 3's.

@wendyquot, where are you from?f I am from Hyde County.

Oh, you are a "high tider"! We lived in Ahoskie for 40 years!

[Skip]

80% of fish sold is mislabeled...according to a story I read somewhere.

Yea, "it's on the internet and everything on the internet is true"... "Bonjour!"

But you're right, like that expensive "Chilean Sea Bass" on the menu? It's not a bass and it doesn't come from Chile. "Chilean Sea Bass" is a AMERICAN TRADE NAME (like Kleenex) for Dissostichus eleginoides, commonly known as Patagonian Toothfish.

How's that one? So next time ask for it by it's correct name. :loco:

Skip

[donb9006]

Yeah...everything on the internet is true... Just the first page from google "80% of fish is mislabeled search"...

About 104,000 results (0.34 seconds)

Think You Ate Tuna Sushi For Lunch? Study Finds Mislabeled Fish Nationwide Problem - Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2013/02/21/think-you-ate-tuna-sushi-for-lunch-new-study-finds-mislabeled-fish-a-prolific-nationwide-problem/)

Mislabeled fish: Widespread seafood fraud in the U.S. | Washington Times Communities (http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/world-our-backyard/2013/feb/23/widespread-seafood-fraud-us/)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/science/earth/27fish.html?_r=0

Mislabeled Fish Affects Your Wallet And Health (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/mislabeled-fish-stores-restaurants_n_3509978.html)

Mislabeled fish: On the menu, but not on your plate - Boston.com (http://www.boston.com/business/gallery/fish_restaurants/)

Summary of the Oceana Report on Seafood Mislabeling in the US (http://www.fishwise.org/press/blog/219-summary-of-the-oceana-report-on-seafood-mislabeling-in-the-us)

http://seattlecentral.edu/faculty/kgagnon/OCE100/TRADE%20SECRETS%20Marine%20food%20mislabel-%20Daniel.pdf

Nationwide study casts a wide net over seafood fraud – Eatocracy - CNN.com Blogs (http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/02/21/seafood-fraud-study/)

How Common Is Fish Fraud? (http://www.wisegeek.com/how-common-is-fish-fraud.htm)

84% of white tuna is mislabeled

Between one-fifth to more than one-third of the halibut, grouper, cod and Chilean seabass samples were mislabeled.

Of the 120 samples of fish touted as red snapper, only seven transpired to be the genuine article. An incredible 28 different species accounted for the rest of the samples, with 17 of those varieties not being even in the snapper family.

In New York City, EVERY sushi venue sold mislabeled fish.

In Washington D.C., EVERY snapper sample was mislabeled

In South Florida, King mackerel, a fish on the FDA’s DO NOT EAT list for pregnant women and other at risk groups due to high mercury, was sold as the far less innocuous grouper.

[jimmemac]

Think about this-there are no new kinds of fish that suddenly showed up;yet today we have plenty of fish that we never heard of 10 years ago-that is because 10 years ago they were considered trash fish by commercial fisherman fishing for fish like cod and just thrown back.Now that the cod is almost depleted we are seeing more and more trash fish or fish that are farm raised.

[murray607]

Every restaurant seems to be serving butterfish. I've eaten several specimens at a variety of establishments and every time I ask what it is, I get a different answer? The dishes taste differently at different restaurants so I'm wondering if it is a method of preparation. There ain't no butterfish swimming in the sea.

The term butter fish has been applied to many species in different aprts of the world.
When I grew up in Scotland the butterfish there was a small yellowish eel-like fish that was hard to hold on to.
I always thought the name came from it's difficulty in handling due to slime and very small scales which felt like holding something coated in butter, rather than the color.

[buggyone]

Yea, "it's on the internet and everything on the internet is true"... "Bonjour!"

But you're right, like that expensive "Chilean Sea Bass" on the menu? It's not a bass and it doesn't come from Chile. "Chilean Sea Bass" is a AMERICAN TRADE NAME (like Kleenex) for Dissostichus eleginoides, commonly known as Patagonian Toothfish.

How's that one? So next time ask for it by it's correct name. :loco:

Skip

The Patagonian Toothfish (Chilean Sea Bass) is one of the ugliest fish you can imagine. If people saw one, they would probably never order it.

[CFrance]

The Patagonian Toothfish (Chilean Sea Bass) is one of the ugliest fish you can imagine. If people saw one, they would probably never order it.

Whatever it's called, it's one of the best-tasting fish in the world.

[jjdees]

Lighthouse still serving Haddock? Haven't been there for awhile.

[crazydaisy]

At Bonifay and Evans it is Swai

[Sadie1313]

Every restaurant seems to be serving butterfish. I've eaten several specimens at a variety of establishments and every time I ask what it is, I get a different answer? The dishes taste differently at different restaurants so I'm wondering if it is a method of preparation. There ain't no butterfish swimming in the sea.

The first time I had "Butterfish", it was at The Lighhouse restaurant. It was delicious. When I was in Sweetbay Supermarket, I asked the man behind the fist counter. He said Butterfish is really known as "Swai". It is actually Vietnamese Catfish. It doesn't sound good, but it tastes great. My husband found it in the frozen section in Walmart. It's about $10.00, and you get a whole bunch of individually wrapped pieces of "Swai". It's really good. Try it, you'll like it. Trish