Eating Bonito: Food Network

I was watching food network last night and there was a rerun of the Chopped All Star Finale on from Sunday. For those of you who do not know, Chopped is a contest for Chefs. There are 4 Chefs and they compete for the best dish and money.

Anyway, the main course was Bonito. The Chefs had to cook bonito. The judges really liked the fish, and the judges are professional Chefs and authors themselves.

I thought it was interesting that Bonito was one of the ingredients and that the judges liked it. I also learned that the skin of Bonito is not edible and you must remove the bloodline. One guy made a soup of some kind and had pieces of skin and bloodline in the soup. :puke:

The ones who grilled it or pan seared it looked really good. I even wanted to try it.

So, has anyone really ate it or do we all just say you cant eat them because that is what some one told us? Why wouldnt it taste like Tuna?

So does this mean that a Jack might taste like Yellow Fin Tuna?

^ have seen people clean jacks! I have heard never tasted that it is a good fish to eat, but then again some people eat Crow, Gar, and Opossum....

I have ate it raw and its like tuna...Also dad grilled and said it was good i have only ate it raw with soy sauce

What we call bonito is actually a little tuny. There is a difference in the two fish. I'm not saying little tuny isn't edible too but if they were referring to a fish as bonito on food network then it is probably not the fish we are used to catching around here.

they were likely cooking atlantic bonito, not little tunny...different species and the atlantic bonito flesh is lighter than little tunny's.

[quote author=fiver link=topic=1086.msg10502#msg10502 date=1336573537]
they were likely cooking atlantic bonito, not little tunny...different species and the atlantic bonito flesh is lighter than little tunny's.
[/quote]

Yep, exactly. Atlantic Bonito are what they call "Northern Mackerel" over on the Fort Walton Pier.

True dat!
Atlantic Bonito flesh cooks up like spanish mackerel :headbang:
Littly Tunny ("bonita") to me is darker like tuna.

This is yellowfin tuna
[img width=720 height=413]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/pierpounder/Misc/FishCooking/Tuna_Marinating.jpg[/img]

This is "bonita" (a trimmed 'tenderloin') which I kept and cooked (panfried) a while back.
[img width=720 height=540]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/pierpounder/Misc/FishCooking/Bo-Trim.jpg[/img]

This is the end result after cooking (pan-fried in olive oil) left is just light seasoning (basically just salt & pepper), right is marinated in soy sauce prior to cooking.
[img width=720 height=540]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/pierpounder/Misc/FishCooking/Bo_fry.jpg[/img]

RESULT:
I luved the lightly seasoned pan-fried best. It tasted GREAT! :eat:
We made fish salad with most of it and my wife declared it was "much better than any tuna out of a can." :D

[quote author=LugNut link=topic=1086.msg10496#msg10496 date=1336570976]
So does this mean that a Jack might taste like Yellow Fin Tuna?
[/quote]

I have to keep the next one I catch to see for myself, but pescador(Jim Egbert) was telling me the other day that Jack smells real fishy when cooking but tastes like pork when you eat it. So I gotta try and see.

Saw a few Jacks on the Cleaning tables last week, so some people are eating them, though mostly foreigners.

I've had "bonita" several times and it ranks right up there with some of the better tasting "restaraunt tuna" I have had...Always makes me wonder what I was really eating at those establishments ::)

Necrothread revival... I'm way late to this party, but I'm reading danged near everything here trying to learn enough to have half a clue.

I saw the Gar comment and just have to chime in.

Gar is excellent, a b!tch to clean, but excellent.
Goes to figure that some Louisiana restaurants charge a premium for it.
This 44" 15lb Longnosed came out of Dog River and was tasty.
[img width=720 height=404]http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s190/ChileRelleno/longnosedgar15lbs44inches.jpg[/img]

+1 on the Gar!!

We run jugs at my camp on the Red River in La in pursuit of Gar Fish. 2 liter bottle on about a 4' piece of bamboo. You gotta chase the big Gar down with the boat. Pretty fun!

Gar Fish balls (not testicles) browned down in a gravy, served over rice of course is hard to beat.

Hey dont knock possum until youve tried it,,,,,baked possum or opossum to city peope and baked sweet potatoes

Don't be knocking my gar. Gar balls (no, not gar nuts) are fine fine fine eating. My grandma made 'em yum yum.

Jacks are similar to a Bluefish in my opinion not the worst tasting fish :eat: but it is just way to much trouble. If I was hungry they would go home every time I caught one. :poke1:

Not sure about Bonito or Gar ,but last summer while on the pier fishing beside a couple ,she from Portugal and her husband American businessman were bewildered that I would release the Hardtails I caught . The husband swore they tasted like pompono. Gave the others I caught to them .

I tried bonita this past weekend and i have to admit it is not bad. I will definatley be keeping and eating any i catch. If you did not know it was a bonita you would think you were eating quality tuna.

[quote author=divedeep link=topic=1086.msg13461#msg13461 date=1340232023]
Don't be knocking my gar. Gar balls (no, not gar nuts) are fine fine fine eating. My grandma made 'em yum yum.
[/quote]

You got that right divedeep, my grandma passed about 3mnths ago, boy she could cook. If I'm half the cook she ever was I'll be doing ok.

I had an Indian Guy (the kind with a dot on their heads, not the ones that go wawawawawa), he was keeping my pinfish and telling me about how healthy the organs of the fish were to eat. He said the heart and junk had great nutritional value.

He was a doctor, and that might be true, but I dont eat fissh for their nutritional value. I eat it cuz they taste good deep fried with tarter sauce.

[quote author=pierboy01 link=topic=1086.msg13462#msg13462 date=1340235484]
If I was hungry they would go home every time I caught one. :poke1:
[/quote]

+1
Sometimes we forget that
The gar balls I mentioned my were made because gar were large, plentiful and easy to catch in the depression days. They found a way to make them taste good.

[quote author=bubba] had an Indian Guy (the kind with a dot on their heads, not the ones that go wawawawawa)[/quote]

Woo-Woo Indians vs Non Woo-Woo Indians

I tried dog one time and it taste like the beef on a stick you get at the fair.

[quote author=DUCK link=topic=1086.msg13485#msg13485 date=1340245562]
I tried dog one time and it taste like the beef on a stick you get at the fair.
[/quote]

+1

When I was stationed in Korea I tried it, actually taste pretty good. Not that I payed (love you long time) did, but it was quite expensive.

When and where were you in Korea?

Cmp Casey 99-00

1st/503rd

[quote author=PurpleNGold link=topic=1086.msg13492#msg13492 date=1340246511]
Cmp Casey 99-00

1st/503rd
[/quote]
Cmp Casey 2/72 armor
March 97-March 98

Cool deal Duck!

TDC and Tokoreee!

You don't have the Tshirt do you??? LOL

I caught one. Bled it out best I could. Cleaned it, took out the darker red meat which was very obvious. Didn't leave a whole lot, but much more meat than is in the average can of tuna. Soaked it over night in lemon lime soda from wal mart. Just cooked it, and only used a dash of ginger, a teaspoon of sea salt, and a dash of blackened seasoning.

It tastes exactly like the tuna that comes in a can. Slightly darker than chicken of the sea, but same exact flavor with a slight kick from the blackened seasoning.

I won't be giving any more away unless I am on vacation and can't freeze them or cook them for the family.

A buddy of mine gave me a recipe for Jack, I'm gonna try it.
He said, just like shark, the key is to bleed & gut immediately and get'em on ice.

Back in SoCal, no one wanted to keep Barracuda, I'd take every one on the boat.
They made the best ceviche and fish tacos.

Just a FWIW: Made tuna salad for sandwiches and crackers last night. Even the wife loved it, and her tolerance for "fishiness" is really low. Like me, she said it was exactly like what you buy in the store. Probably had a couple of pounds of meat as opposed to an 8 oz can. No more problem to prepare and cook than a king.

Most of the fish we catch are eatable. You just have to know how to prepare them. Most newbies listen to dock talk and think that they know what their talkin about. Be willin to try things and not just get caught up in here say. Personal experiences are our best guides not what we here. You know your a follower if you only listen and don't try. Kill um all and y'all never go hunger.

You're right Tim. I fried up some fresh caught Bluefish and the wife said it was the best fried fish she'd ever eaten. She also has a low threshold for "fishiness". Knock on wood, but the only bad fish we've had was due to user error when cooking it.

We fried the Blues & White Trout we caught at Dauphin Island last Saturday, they were delicious.
Filleted'em out, dipped in Mayo, dredged in Zatarain's fish fry and just got'em golden... YUMMY!

You can never go wrong with trout, but the Blues were a first for us and we weren't disappointed.
Not fishy at all, heck, my 3yr'ol daughter gobbled it up, and she is P I C K Y.