Healthy Foods: A Cook's Guide to Lean Fishes
By habee
Enjoy this healthy food often!
It seems that people are becoming more and more health conscious, especially when it comes to adding healthy foods to their diet. As a result, fish has become an extremely popular dish, and many families try to consume at least a serving or two every week. Fish is high in protein, selenium, and vitamin B12, and many species also have anti-inflammatory properties. Besides the health benefits, fish is versatile, tasty, and some species are very inexpensive. Fish can be an extremely healthy food.
Why fish is a healthy food
Fish generally fall into one of two categories – fatty fish and lean fish - and both types are healthy foods. As the name implies, fatty fish are higher in fats, but the fats are the healthy omega-3 fats. Fatty fish species include Atlantic salmon, tuna, rainbow trout, mackerel, and sardines.
Unfortunately, many don’t like the taste of fatty or oily fish. These fish tend to have a much stronger “fishy” taste than lean fish have. Even though lean fishes lack the high levels of omega-3’s, they can still be part of a healthy diet – they supply high protein that’s much lower in saturated fats than other flesh like beef and pork.
Most lean fish can be cooked whole, filleted, or steaked. Cook by broiling, sautéing, frying, poaching, blackening, grilling, baking, or smoking.
Popular Species of Lean Fishes
Grouper
Grouper is a family of fish with sweet, mild flesh with large flakes. The thick fillets are firm and hold moisture better than most lean fish, so it’s an excellent choice for grilling. In some upscale fish markets, groupers are sold live. Grouper in the wild can grow to enormous sizes.
Flounder
Flounder is a saltwater fish, a flatfish that has a delicate white flesh that’s extremely mild in taste. The fillets are usually thin and dry out easily, so it’s best to fry them or cook them with some type of liquid. Fresh flounder are far superior to frozen and is readily available in warmer months..
Tilapia
Tilapia is mild, flaky, and tender. Strong seasonings will mask the delicate flavor. Tilapia are farmed and caught in the wild. This freshwater fish has a mostly vegetarian diet, so you won’t have to worry about mercury levels when consuming tilapia.
Cod
Cod, a saltwater fish, has a medium texture, mild flavor, and large white flakes. Smaller cod, called scrod, have a finer texture. Both cod and scrod have a moderate moisture content. This is the fish, along with haddock, that’s typically used for “fish and chips.”
Halibut
Halibut is a saltwater fish that can grow to over 500 pounds, but you won’t find one that size in your local fish market. The flesh is sweet, very mild, firm, and dense. It has a clean, pleasant taste when fresh but dries out easily, so be careful not to overcook. It tends to lose its flavor in the freezer.
Haddock
Haddock is firm yet flaky, with a mild flavor. It can be cooked in a variety of ways, including smoked. Fillets that are fresh will be firm and translucent, while older ones will fall apart easily and have a chalky appearance.
Red Snapper
Red snapper, another saltwater fish, has a sweet, nutty flavor and tends to retain moisture, making it a good choice for grilling. If you leave the skin on the fish while grilling, the meat will hold together better. Other fish are often passed off to consumers as red snapper. Avoid this by buying only whole fish with bright red skin.
Monkfish
Monkfish has an incredibly sweet flavor, much like scallops or lobster. The fish has a huge, ugly, bony head, so only the tail section is consumed. In some areas, monkfish is actually more expensive than lobster. The firm meat is excellent for grilling. Be sure to remove the tough membrane covering the flesh before cooking.
Hake
Hake is similar in taste and texture to cod. It has few bones and firm, white flesh with a delicate flavor. Thicker fillets do well on the grill. Hake is very popular in Spanish cuisine.
Pollock
Pollock has a very mild taste and is very popular in American restaurants. It’s often served batter-fried. Alaskan Pollock is superior in taste and texture than other types. Pollock from Alaska is used to make imitation crabmeat, or sirimi.
Redfish
Redfish, a saltwater fish that's very popular in the Southeast, has a mild to moderate taste and a firm texture. Older, larger fish might have a stronger flavor, and individuals over 12-15 pounds will be tough instead of flaky. Fish under that weight are excellent grilled or blackened. For larger reds, fillet the fish and use a grilling marinade.
Dover Sole
Sole, or Dover sole, is a flatfish that has a delicate flavor, and its flesh is firm yet finely grained. The taste is sweet and buttery. Sole’s texture is too fragile for grilling. Expect to pay a high price for real Dover sole.
Spadefish
Spadefish are often called “angelfish” because of their similar appearance. They’re a saltwater fish species, but their taste is similar to that of a freshwater bream caught from clean, clear water. The raw meat sometimes has a slightly greenish hue, but don’t let that put you off. Once it’s cooked, it will be white and flaky with a mild taste.
Turbot
Turbot is a large flatfish that has a wonderful flavor and a firm texture. It’s a favorite with many chefs and is somewhat expensive. Older fish have a more pronounced flavor that “baby turbot.” The best quality fish are usually available in the summer months.
Dolphin
Dolphin, a saltwater fish that's usually caught offshore, is also called mahi-mahi, and this is the fish, not the mammal. It has a sweet, moderately strong flavor, with fairly firm flesh. For a milder taste, cut away the dark lines of flesh and remove the skin. Dolphin is a moderate mercury risk, so don’t eat more than six servings a month.
Catfish has a mild flavor and dense meat that’s not as flaky as many other fish species. Farm-raised catfish generally have a sweeter taste than those caught in the wild. Fish over 10 pounds are often somewhat tough. Most people agree that the freshwater channel catfish has the best flavor.
Barramundi
Barramundi from saltwater has a sweet, mild taste and a delicate texture when young. Older, larger fish often have a “muddy” taste, and almost all of the freshwater barramundi are inferior table fare. Barramundi are now being raised on fish farms around the world, including in the U.S.
Spotted Seatrout
Spotted sea trout is a firm white saltwater fish with a mild flavor. A close and almost identical relative is the weakfish, which is also excellent table fare. If you’ve eaten “speckled trout” in a Florida restaurant, you were eating spotted sea trout. Larger trout, often called "gator trout," can be filleted before cooking.
Shark
Shark is firm and white, with a mild flavor similar to chicken. The shark meat should be handled quickly and tenderized before cooking. From my experience, sharks from 3-4 feet in length have the best flavor. The one in the above photo is a good size, and I can attest to the fact that this particular shark was very tasty! Sharks have a cartilaginous skeleton, so you won’t have to worry about bones. Remove skin before eating - it's like sandpaper.
Black Drum
Black drum has a somewhat coarse flesh and a mild flavor. Remove the skin before cooking, but save the throat – it’s the best part of the fish. Black drum weighing over five pounds are generally not good to eat. The one above is a good-eating size, and it was delicious!
Sheepshead
Sheepshead is a saltwater fish that has white meat that many compare to crabmeat in flavor. Skin the fish or fillet before cooking. These meaty fish are excellent on the grill. The fish are usually more abundant, and therefore cheaper, during the winter months. Click for a great sheepshead recipe.
Pompano
Pompano is small in size but big in taste. Their succulent flesh is dense and white, and it’s often considered a delicacy. Because of the high demand for the fish, it’s now being farm raised. Expect to pay top dollar for fresh pompano.
Cobia
Cobia is a saltwater fish that can grow to hefty weights. Often called "ling" in the Gulf of Mexico, cobia has a unique flavor. The flesh is firm and tasty. The demand for cobia has risen so much that they're now being raised in aquaculture farms. This fish is great in a number of cobia fish recipes!
How to Select Fresh Fish
Unless you’re an angler, you probably buy your fish at a grocery store or fish market. Freshness is an integral factor with fish because it deteriorates quickly. You have no way of knowing how long the fish have been out of the water.
It’s easy to disguise a fish’s lack of freshness when it’s in fillet form, so purchase whole fish and have them cleaned or filleted. Follow the guidelines below to ensure that the fish you’re buying are fresh. A fresh fish has:
- bright red gills
- glossy eyes that are prominent
- skin that’s free of blemishes
- a sweet – not ammonia – smell
- firm flesh
- shiny skin
Watch below for a video tutorial about choosing fresh fish.
How to Store Fish
Get your fish home as soon as you can. Rinse the fish or fish fillets and pat them dry. Place them in a bag of ice, making sure the ice surrounds both sides of the fish. Lean fish can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week after it’s caught. The ones in stores were most likely already 2-4 days old, so plan to cook your fish within 2-3 days.
Fish can be stored for longer periods by freezing. The best way we’ve found to this is to cover them with water. We use either gallon milk jugs with the top cut off, or zipper-seal freezer bags. If we use the bags, we double bag the fish.
Sure, the water takes up a lot more room in the freezer, but we’ve found that it’s definitely worth it! Lean fish frozen in this manner will keep its texture and flavor for over six months.
For great fish recipes, click the links below.
To learn to catch your own fish, read the articles below.
Tips for cooking and eating fish:
- Southern Traditions: The Fish Fry
D.J., my son-in-law, playing guitar. My three daughters are enjoying the music. Bobby playing guitar at a fish fry. Keith playing bagpipes at a fish fry. Husband Johnny enjoying a brew while waiting for the... - Culinary Arts: How to Pair Wines with Seafood
Welcome to online cooking school! In this version of my online cooking classes, we'll discuss pairing wines with seafood. For many years, the hard and fast rule was to always pair fish and seafood with... - Fishing Tips: How to Catch, Prepare, and Cook Bluefish
Bluefish are one of the best fighting fish in the ocean, pound for pound. Once hooked, the blue will make lightning-fast runs and will often break the surface in an impressive leap. They're found in large... - Southern Culinary Arts: How to Prepare and Cook Shark Meat
Welcome to my online cooking school! I imagine that we have many men present in today's online cooking classes. Hopefully, we have lots of women, too, since shark fishing is not limited to males. If you've... - Southern Cuisine: Blackened Redfish
Theyre called red drum, red bass, channel bass, spot-tail bass, redfish, or simply reds. Whatever you call them, theres no denying theyre one of the most sought-after fish in the South. Theyre fun... - Southern Culinary Arts: Buttermilk Fried Fish
Welcome to my online cooking school! Today's lesson is the culinary art of frying fresh fish. Folks in the South love fishing. Well, allow me to narrow that down: folks in South Georgia love fishing! We...
Tips for catching fish:
- Saltwater fishing in the South
- Saltwater Fishing Tips: Spotted Seatrout, with Fishing Videos
Spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, speckled seatrout, and specs, are beautiful saltwater fish that are fun to catch and are excellent on the table. The flesh is mild, white, and flaky and is... - Saltwater Fishing: Sheepshead with Video
I finally learned how to catch sheepshead. I've tried catching these convicts for years, but until recently, I succeeded only in feeding them my bait. Many times when the water was clear, I could see these... - Fishing Tips: Flounder + Fishing Video
Flounder is one of the tastiest fish in the ocean. The flesh is white and flaky, and it has a mild taste. It's also low in fat and high in protein. You can buy the fish at the market, but why not catch your... - Fishing Tips: How to Catch Sharks, with Big Shark Video
Note: This article discusses shark fishing from a pier, the surf, the shore, or from a small boat. The tips provided are apropriate for bays, inlets, sounds, nearshore, and tidal creeks and rivers. Some of...
Comments
I agree, Veronica - that monkfish is one ugly critter!
2besure, can you tell that my family loves to fish?? lol
You must have some fantastic vacations! Loved the pictures of your family, and the write-ups about the various fish were very helpful. I'm going to be brave and try something new. Love flounder and cod and haddock and perch, maybe I'll try red snapper first.
sheila, try the monkfish!!
Great job and good info! I love salmon but I also love halibut and Chilean bass....it's all about knowing how to cook it though.
My favourite fish is smoked salmon. Lately, we see a lot of Alaskan Pollock in the supermarket. Till your hub I didn't know what to make of it.
Never tried the Chilean sea bass, Buckie. Is it the same as black sea bass? I've caught and eaten them! Yum!
Great hub; I love fish! Thanks for sharing the info on how to select, because other than my favorite, tilapia, I am clueless.
HH, I'll take pollock over salmon any day! I don't care for oily fish.
If you like tilapia, you'll love grouper and flounder! Give 'em a try, Ann!
Makes me want to go fishing, catch some red snapper, have my son clean it and I will cook it! Great hub. You have my vote!
Wow, Judydiane! Thanks a bunch!
This hub is incredible. You sure know a lot about choosing fish. The photos are very useful. I've been wondering what a mahi mahi looks like.
Oh, Betty, thanks so much!
Wow, Habee you sure know your fish. :) You have listed all my favorites and many others I've never heard of. Want to go fishing with your family; would love to snag a big flounder like in the photo. Congrats on being selected as one of this week's "Best Hub" nominees. Good luck to you!
What an impressive collection of fish pictures. Love the monkfish, looks like slippers to me. Looks like you really know your fish from the pictures of your family fishing trips. Congrats on your nomination and good luck.
What a fantastic hub. I looked at all the titles of the top ten and chose this one to read first before even seeing who wrote it. This is healthy stuff. Very well written. Love the photos. I tried Flounder once because it was the cheapest that day and I almost gagged. The pompano are pretty. Great hub! Encourages one to take a risk and try a few other kinds. Congratulations on catching a fish. (I've never done that yet.)
I read all the way to the bottom of your hub hoping you would give out your secret method of making fish sticks! HA!
R.D.
Ooohhhh, Excellent photos, and great hub Habee. Thanks for sharing! We love fish in our family, my son and I love to fish, he caught a catfish (his first) just today! Thanks again, so awesome and gotta love the lean.
good info and photos to go with it. Great Hub!
That's a great comprehensive hub! Voted up! I love fish and I used to make "gefilter fish" using carp. Here where I live, I can't find carp, but tilapia looks a lot like carp... I wonder if I may substitute....
Great work Habee :)
Well done huge effort in this. posted to my Barrys Bistro Blog
Habee, AWESOME! And congrats on the win. Monk & Halibut are in my top fav's. #1 is Opah, from Hawaii.
Yayyy Habee!! I am so excited for you! Congratulations on a much deserved win of hubber's choice award. :)
Congrats on the win!
I can see how you got voted the favorite. Congratulations. I like the taste of lean fish much more than the healthier type fishes. It's hard to beat fried catfish and hushpuppies!
Congratulations on the win! Good job!
Just had to stop by and congratulate you on your "People's Choice Award" on this hub habee. You have worked so hard and it is good to see your hard work pay off.
Thanks, MG! As you can tell, the fam and I LOVE fishing!
Many thanks, Anglnwu!
Hi, Pamela! Girlfriend, you need to learn to fish!
Well, RD, my sticks aren't as good as your grouper backs!
Ocean, that's great that your teaching your son to fish! Thanks for reading!
Green, so nice of you to stop by and leave a comment!
Reu, I don't know what a good sub for carp would be - I've never eaten carp. Thanks for reading!
Phoenix, thanks so much! I really appreciate it!
Gee, Barry - that's awesome. Thanks!!
21, thanks so much for your support!
Ocean, thanks for coming back with the congrats!
Woo Hoo! Congrats, my southern cooking friend! Habee, you really deserve this. Way to go! :)
Buckie, I sent you an email.
Angela, I'm with you - I don't care for oily, fishy fish!
Judy, thanks for your support, girlfriend!
Congrats on the win-- another great Habee Hub!
Woohoo ^ 5 for the Win ! Excellent Work!
Hello Habee congrats on a great hub and for the win!!! I like your hub.
I tried red snapper for the first time when I was in Cuba last year. WOW...it was one of the tastiest pieces of fish I'd ever eaten and so fresh. I went back for more the next day and the next!
Congrats Habee, you really deserved this one. I voted for you and seeing you win feels like my vote won. lol doing a happy dance for you.
habee fantastic pictures. Of course the info is great, as always.
Do you have a hub with a table of how different fish are best cooked (grilled, fried, baked etc) as well as a substitution chart (when a recipe calls for X fish, you could substitute a, b, or c)? I'd like to link to such a hub.
Congrats habee! Excellent pics and a great hub. Truly enlightening for people like me who do not get to see these varieties of fish.
Congrats on your selection as People's Choice. I loved how you had the pictures of each of the fish. I like tilapia, walleye, and catfish are my favorites.
very nice, habee. I see that teacher in you in your presentation!! very well done. It helps so much to see images when giving information. I also really love your latest hub about cooking fish, some great ideas. congrats on your win!
Thanks so much, MG!
Esatchel - "habee hub" - love that!
Great hub. I enjoyed learning more about fish. The pictures were great.
woow i always fishing every weekend.
very interested post
thanks for sharing
Habee...magnificent hub about fish, I love it so much, thank you for sharing!!
Congratulations, Habee - I voted for you in the contest!! Thumbs up!
Thanks, V!
Travel e, thanks for reading!
Oh, Charan, that is so sweet! Thanks!
I don't, RM, but I could probably make one! lol
Thank you, Perl!
Thanks, Kingis! I've never tried walleye.
Many thanks, Rebekah! I guess I'll always be a teacher at heart!
Thanks, Nancy!
Gazzan, you're lucky to fish that often!
Feb, so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!
Thank you, Nellie! I'm truly honored!
I am from Southeast Asia and I tried the Monkfish once when I visited Norway. I loved it, really tasted like lobster. :) Very informative hub, good effort !
Yes, Ingenira, monkfish is awesome!
Hey Habee,
After a long layoff from hubpages I am back reading and writing again. I got here via your blog which I found on your profile page. I also went to your website. It seems that you succeed in all challenges. I have never known so much about the fish that I have eaten for years. You are a great writer and an even better teacher. Cheers.
Sligo, you've made my day with your kind comments!
Excellent hub! Being from Houston, my hubby brings home alot of Redfish and Speckled Trout. I love the redfish blackened!!! As you said, I prefer him eating more and more fish due to their health benefits. You didn't' really bring up the mercury content though? I keep hearing its more and more a concern nowadays when eating alot of fish.
Jill, where we fish, we don't have a big problem with mercury. I know somw areas do, however.
congrat for been selected as the hub of the day, I am much interested in fish farming, you you use you backyard in rearing some of the especially tilapia.
Great hub on fish, alot of facts are imbedded here. Tilapia, is one the most common fish in my country. I love the fish so much, i dont really know why, and i'd say that i would never eat another type of fish again, until i ate the cat fish, we caught it on a family fishing trip during holiday. Basically fish is a great source of protein, so alot of people stick to it around here, as it is locally source. Thanks for sharing this and congratulation on been the hub of the day.
Thanks for this hub. I love fish and experimenting with new recipes. There were a few on your list that I'd never heard of.
Hi Habee, great Hub and lots of info. I eat fish almost every day, I live in Thailand and fish is a staple in Asia. Most fish we eat is fresh and farm grown here. The natural stocks are suffering from a lot of overfishing so the only fish we eat from the sea is Wild Salmon from my old home Alaska another amazing fish location. Thanks
Peter
Congratulations on earning the Hub of the Day award.
I enjoyed this comprehensive hub on cooking lean fish and the pictures were great. Looks like Cory's a good fisherman.
cool fish! :) ang congratulations for being hub of the day
Hi,
What a fantastic hub - a deserved winner.
I am a lover of fish but some of these I'd never heard of - will be keeping your page for future use. Thanks for all the info and the photo's are great.
You put an awful lot into this hub and it is presented very well; first class.
Hey there, great hub and it definitely deserved hub of the day. I personally love fish and grilled fish is my favorite.
Great job!
Congratulations on the "Hub Of The Day" thing. Despite any of that - this is an outstanding hub. I had such a bang up blast of a good time this past Spring bass fishing that I can't hardly wait for the next one. I also, of course, renewed my interests in the ol' fish n' chips.
Awesome list of fish. Loved this article. Getting great stuff from hub of the days. Congrats. Keep it up.
This is awesome. I've been trying to learn to cook fish. It seems to be more sensitive to cooking just right which I haven't nailed yet. Do all fish get cooked to the same temperature to be considered done. My personal opinion it's much worse to overcook fish than under cook if you have high quality fish.
amazing list! keep up the good work.
Great hub! A useful hub as well and it makes me hungry now of fish just looking at your photos. Thanks for sharing. Congratulation!
Wow! Great hub. A comprehensive list of fish plus the links to the recipes....can't wait to try some of these dishes. I like fish as a fast go-to meal because I can just add a tablespoon of fresh herbs, some freshly ground pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and a dollop of butter and throw it in the microwave. Love the photos of your family too!
Congratulations on being chosen for the Hub of the Day!
This is a very thorough article filled with great information and awesome pictures! My wife eats fish every day (she's from Cambodia and fish is a staple to their diet) and I eat it a few times a month. I enjoyed this Hub, will promote it, and I will book mark for future use! Great Job!
JSMatthew~
Super overview, great reference hub. Congrats on hub of the day--you earned it!
Wow... This is very comprehensive!
I'm getting into eating fish more and more these days, so this will be a great resource for me and anyone else who is looking to expand their menus.
To habee: Great and delicious hub. I, too, love fish. My favorite dish is sashimi and sushi which I eat most of the time. I also love to broil and bake my fish. What excellent suggestions you made.
Its a superb story about fishes. Thanks a lot for sharing this great thing.
Marvelous story habee. This was a very comprehesinve guide to the world of fish. I really enjoy eating fish but I hate cooking fish that smells fishy. You follow me? Tuna on the grill is my all time fave but it's just so darn expensive. Through some tuna my way?
Mitshell, true - you can raise several fish species with aquaculture. You'd have a constant supply of healthy food that way!
Augustus, that's great! With fish being such a healthy food, I don't think people around here eat enough of it.
C1234, thanks for reading about healthy foods!
Peter, good for you for eating so much fish! We really need to eat it more often than we do.
Boomer, Cory is a great fishermen, but actually, I caught several of the saltwater fish pictured. I'm just camera shy! lol
2besure 23 months ago
Wow, what an extensive list of fish. Great job on this hub! Also helpful video on how to freeze fresh fish. 2 thumbs up!