Blue gill, Walleye, Northern pike, crappie, perch...none of these have a 'fishy' taste, IMO. At least, not like bass, sandbass & catfish taste fishy.All freshwater fish...don't know what region of the US you live in but you might want to invest in a fishing license & go fishing?

Blue gill (sunfish, pumpkinseeds) are wonderful, mild-flavored, plentiful and easy to catch...and super fun to catch, too.

Really fresh fish do not taste fishy.

Sushi, for instance.

Otherwise use ginger, garlic and scallions in your recipes. They make fishy tastes less noticeable.

dcarch

I agree with cilantro, blue gill, walleye, sunfish, northern pike, lake perch, none of them are strong tasting fish. I grew up eating those and still prefer them over ocean fish.

You can also marinate fish in a teriyaki type glaze and Elery often glazes salmon with maple syrup, the sweet seems to cut the fishy flavor.

On the other hand, I think tuna tastes very fishy but I LIKE fish a lot, so it's still good!

Annie

This post was edited by annie1992 on Tue, Jun 4, 13 at 0:42

Now that is a challenge. If you don't catch yourself, find a good supplier. Or only by frozen and shrink-wrapped. Fish that sits out even for a short time when you see it resting on a bed of ice at the market can start the stink process pretty quickly.
OldBay reminds me of my youth and smells of seafood right out of the can...
I find Cod very mild but we catch our own, (only have a couple fillets left in the freeze, so sad)
One favorite dish is to roll a fillet tight into a small cast iron pan with a bit of olive oil, first on the cooktop. Make a stuffing of celery, olives, chopped tomato, cilantro, a handfull toasted pecans, lemon slices...stuff into the middle and bake in the oven topped with a little mustard yogurt cream then panko breadcrumbs. Final 5 min i kick on the broiler for a crispy crust.

I don't agree. Some fish taste like fish. That is the way they taste. To Me. Nothing to do with whether the fish is fresh or not. That is another issue. . Fish like Walleye, White Fish, Perch taste like "fish" to me. Even fresh out of the water. Not fishy as in gone bad or not fresh. But they taste like fish. Moe loves lake fish, I don't.

Salmon has a distinct flavour, I wouldn't call it "fishy". Fresh Tuna and Swordfish do not taste fishy to me. And the texture is different, more "meaty". And fresh halibut does not taste "fishy".

The only cod I like is "Black Cod or Sable Fish".

~Ann

I think fishy taste is in the eye (tongue?) of the beholder. DH won't eat fresh Idaho trout caught in a neighbor's pond or salmon because it's too fishy, but he'll snarf raw salmon at sushi night at the wine bar , And he'll eat canned tuna, which to me is fishy, as is not-so-fresh fish.

Lake perch...mmmm...I think I had that at Canning Camp. I was skeered...the last time I saw Lake Michigan fish was when I was a kid and we lived in the Chicago suburbs and when we went to Lake Michigan there were dead alewives everywhere. yick. But that perch was some of the best fish I've ever had.

KatieC, lake perch is my favorite fish. It's also one of the few fishes that The Monkey Princess will eat, she hates most fish.

I find tilapia to be soft textured and strong flavored and catfish is inconsistent, one filet is nice and one is so "muddy" tasting that I'll spit it out.

Salmon has its own flavor, as Ann T noted, but it's still fish. I think swordfish is one of the strongest flavored fish I've eaten, I don't like that at all. Trout I'll only eat smoked, I also find that to be strong.

Some fish is stronger than other milder fish, but if you really don't like fish, I'd give it up and take fish oil tablets. If you're only eating fish for health benefits and really don't like it, it's pretty pointless to try to make it taste like something its not.

It's kind of like me eating lamb. My insurance company tells me it's a healthy meat. I guess it is, because I can choke down about 2 bites, maybe 3, any saturated fat in that is negligible. I don't care how it's cooked, what it's sauced with or marinated in, it's lamb and it tastes like lamb. Similarly, fish is going to taste like fish, no matter what you do to it.

Annie

I'm with Ann regarding halibut. It has a very mild flavor and a good texture.

The freshness of the fish is really important, though. I was getting sick of salmon because of its overpowering smell. Whenever I cooked it, the aroma seemed to linger forever. But I was getting it from my local grocery stores. When our farmers market got a true fish monger, I gave it a try again. Both my husband & I were amazed at the difference. The freshly caught salmon was delicious and didn't leave a horrid stench after cooking.

However, as Annie has pointed out, fish will taste fishy no matter what you do.

Wish I had an answer to that one. Just had tuna fritata for breakfast - sure way to ruin a good omelette as far as I'm concerned.

Hoping against hope I googled (yet again!) to find some proof that one can eat walnuts instead of fish, but ended up finding (yet again!) that the answer is No (attaching link to article with lovely photo).

Here is a link that might be useful: Thank the Lord WE can at least cook 'em!

Well if anyone can get fish to taste like Prime Rib please let me know! LOL! I love fish but my DH and DD don't like it and they are very hard to please. My fav is salmon!
Joann

Pick mild-flavoured fish (generally speaking, try white-fleshed fish), then coat and fry, or use sauces.

Shrimp is also high in omega-3, and some who don't like fish do like shellfish.

Take some soft tofu and mold in into the shape of a fish. :)

It's hard to say which fish you will like/dislike because taste is so personal. I'm a texture person too so raw fish is out. I prefer the milder white fish but do enjoy anchovies from time to time (in stuff; not by themselves!). The best advise I can give you is to try different kinds and find out what you like. Sometimes a fish can taste different between preparations. Go experiment!

Well, I hated fish but had to eat it growing up. As I got older I realized it was less the fish than the way my mother prepared it which was to take flounder, dust it in flour and fry it up in margarine. Blecch.

Since I started preparing my own fish, I found I could tolerate it better by using spices and preparing it differently...grilling it with soy sauce, old bay, poaching cod in milk with bay leaf and peppercorns, baking it with cheese....but that still meant using mild fishes like cod or mahi mahi.

I was hoping there were stronger flavors I could use with fishier fish that I could still enjoy....but maybe not.

And I agree that catfish is really iffy. Even farm raised, some times it's pretty mild, but sometimes it tastes like eating pond bottom. Yuck.

Seems to me that the whiter and less oilier the fish, the milder it is, but maybe that's just me. :)

The secret is mayo.....cover it in mayo and then your spices etc.

Smoked fish tastes much less fishy.

dcarch

AnnieDeighnaugh, if you're interested in stronger flavours, I've got just the thing for you.

This is a very popular dish here in Israel, and even I like it when it's properly made. If you don't like coriander you can use parsley instead.

â Chraimeâ Sephardic Fish in Spicy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
â¢1-1/2 cups water
â¢3 tbl extra virgin olive oil
â¢juice of 1 lemon
â¢2 tablespoons tomato paste
â¢1/4 teaspoon salt
â¢5 garlic cloves, chopped fine
â¢1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
â¢1 table spoon sweet paprika
â¢1bunch coriander chopped roughly
â¢2 to 3 tsp. hot red chili, seeded and chopped
â¢2-3 pieces dried sweet red peppers
â¢1 kg red snapper, sea bass, halibut, grey mullet or similar firm fleshed fish filets
â¢lemon wedges

1.Heat the oil at low temperature.
2.Add the paprika and cumin seeds and fry until fragrant
3.Mix together ý cup water, lemon juice, tomato paste, salt, the garlic, and chili and add to the oil. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
4.Add the fish and the remaining water.
5.Add the coriander (reserving some for garnish)
6.Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Serve warm with lemon wedges and plenty of crusty fresh bread

Here is a link that might be useful: Spicy and Hot

WinterCat - That's going on my list to try. Thanks! I've never stumbled across dried sweet red pepper, but since it doesn't seem to be actually used in the recipe I won't worry too much about it ;)

FOAS - I'm so glad you're going to try it!

Enjoy :)

Have you ever tried a fresh mango salsa over grilled or baked fish? I thinks it cuts the fishy taste a bit.

No, but I have put regular tomato salsa on swordfish or tuna and it's tasty....

Winter Cat, that sounds like some really hot stuff! That's a lot of coriander too...I doubt I could taste any fish at all under all those spices!

Since I'm thinking of it, here is a quick and easy teriyaki process that you can use for most any filet of fish.

I did it most recently with a salmon filet that was 1" thick. You could do it with most any fairly thick filet. If the filet is only half as thick, reduce the cooking time by half.

Make teriyaki sauce as follows: 1 cup mirin, 2/3 cup sake, 2/3 cup soy sauce; bring to boil for 10 minutes to thicken a little, then let it cool.

Cut the filet into serving-sized pieces, keeping the skin on.

When the sauce has cooled a little, put fish into sauce to marinate for up to an hour. I usually do this in a gallon-sized ziplock bag.

Remove fish from marinade, pour marinade back into pot and boil until further thickened to "coat back of spoon" level.

Heat pan (preferably cast iron or non-stick) to very hot, add plenty of oil, enough to prevent sticking. Working in batches, place fish in pan skin side down, and fry without touching for 2 minutes only. Check the first filet - you want it not quite done, since it will get some broiling too.

Arrange fish on sheet pan, skin side down, and sprinkle a little sugar on top (flesh side) of fish, coat with some sauce. Turn on broiler, heat it up, then place fish under broiler and close to flame, broil for 1 minute. My broiler is wimpy, if yours is a flame-thrower, you might have to shorten that time.

Plate fish and coat with more sauce.

My mother in law went to her deep freeze to get something and while arranging stuff, a frozen fish was inadvertently left out. She found it thawed a day later, gave it a whiff and thought: seems normal, fish is supposed to smell this way. She cooked it up and on the first taste, spit it out...yuck. I think a lot of people who didn't grow up having access to "fresh" fish think it's alright for fish to stink.

I think we are talking about two things.

"Fishy" as in gamy and strong tasting (catfish, salmon, ----)

"Fishy" as in beginning to go rotten, not fresh, but not yet stinky.

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Sun, Jun 9, 13 at 8:15

Well, now you've gone and done it, I had to go have some fresh fish. Elery and I went out for our anniversary, which was about a month ago, LOL, but we've been busy. We took my Mother and went to a little place close to her house. I had something common to Michigan this time of year, smelt. Love those tiny little crunchy fishies, dipped in cocktail sauce and eaten bones, tail and all.

Annie

I don't get it. Fish is fish. I WANT it to taste like fish. I don't want it to taste like beef, chicken, or anything else.

Farm raised fish that's fed corn and cereal may not be as strongly flavored as mackerel, but it will still be fish. Things like tilapia and farm-raised salmon pretty much defeat the entire purpose of eating fish. In the natural world, there's no way a salmon would ever come into contact with corn. But when they're raised in pens, they're fed corn and grain pellets and in the case of salmon, their flesh is colored so it looks orange instead of gray. So they don't taste as good as the wild fish, but they still taste like fish.

Rule of thumb is that river fish are milder in flavor than ocean fish, but that came before fish farming in the oceans. Stuff like tilapia is farmed out in the oceans but it's fed corn pellets and it's pretty insipid and of doubtful health benefit.

Tilapia are an African fresh water fish, used to catch them wild when I was a kid. And they were good eating. Some we would catch using green water weed.
First time I've heard of them being farmed in the ocean, always something new.
As a by the way, if you don't like the smell of fried fish in the kitchen chuck a piece (about 4 inches) of celery in with the frying fish. Works for me although I don't know why!
That is when shallow frying of course.

This post was edited by Ruimi on Mon, Jun 10, 13 at 4:13

" Love those tiny little crunchy fishies, dipped in cocktail sauce and eaten bones, tail and all. "

Me too, Annie! ! ! !

And I had some this year for the first time in ages!
It's not anything that is known in these parts,
But a large store about 50 miles from here had some.
I bought about 5 lbs, and really "pigged out"
(for lack of a better term) that night.
I have the rest in meal sized packages in the freezer.
I use them as a 'reward' for myself when I accomplish
something I've been dreading doing!

"I don't get it. Fish is fish. I WANT it to taste like fish. I don't want it to taste like beef, chicken, or anything else. "

I agree with that 100%, too.
I like to 'eat healthy', and I try to most of the time.
But I am not willing to torture myself with food I don't like.
If I were intent on giving up red meats,
I would try to find something that I enjoyed
To replace it with.

As many have mentioned above,
There are a number of very mild tasting fish.
Preparing/serving them with a highly seasoned sauce
might do the job for you.

Good luck in your quest.

Rusty

Rusty, that's the first time I've ever heard of anyone having a fish craving! Potato chips or chocolate, sure....but fish???

I wish I did like the taste of fish as it would be so much easier. I wish either celery tasted like chocolate or chocolate had the calories of celery, but alas, that is not the case....so it goes.

I have celery cravings, lol. I even grow par-cel. It is grown just for the leaves, like parsley.

We have fish cravings also. DH has to have a certain brand of kipper in the cupboard or anchovies and makes a favorite simple pasta dish when i am out of town. And me? A big bowl of seared Cod tongues.

I agree with eat what you like. If I don't like a certain healthy food, I look for foods with similar nutritional benefits that I do like.
Often, the preparation method is important, however, with fish, the wild, oily fishes are better and I don't know if you can ever truly disguise that.

I, too, am curious why anyone would want to choke down food they find distasteful when there are great alternatives for the nutritional benefits of fish. Leave the fish for us fish lovers!

The point is, a food can taste differently based on preparation, and as I said, I didn't like any fish based on how Mom cooked it....and being forced to eat clam chowder as a kid. Bleccch!

Now I find I can eat and actually like some fish if prepared well...I was hoping there was a way of preparing the healthier oilier and lower mercury fishes for their nutrition and yet make them taste better to a nonfish lover like me.

You mean to tell me you've never eaten something because it was good for you even if you didn't like it? I take a Tbls of flax seed oil every night...not that I love it, but that it does wonders for how I feel.

I don't eat things that I don't like, ever, unless I have to be polite but those are rare occurrences. Bad food, poorly cooked food, food I don't like all have the same calories and if I'm going to eat, I want to deeply enjoy it.
Almost all nutrition can be found in a variety of sources so there is almost always something I do enjoy.

Catfish shouldn't taste fishy. It should be a white flesh fish, but lately we've run into some gray flesh. Blah. I wonder if the gray ones are imported.

Also, the catfish skin has to be removed totally before cooking. It's the skin that tastes fishy.

Well, since becoming a grown-up, I can honestly say there isn't much I can think of that I don't like to eat. Well, except caraway seeds and gin. And if someone found wondrous health benefits in either, I still wouldn't eat them. But I haven't tried flax seed oil, so couldn't say if I'd take that or not. Haven't found too many things that, singularly, by themselves, make me feel fabulously more healthy. A good, varied diet does, though.