Fishy whiting???

So I've heard how great whiting are. I've brought fish home before, but this is the first year I've brought home pompano and whiting. I baked the pompano and it was great, but a week later, we had some whiting and Redfish. Part of the whiting was breaded and deep fried and the other part was cooked in a skillet with seasoning (dont ask with what, I didnt cook it). Well...... the whiting tasted fishy to me (yes I know its fish). Is whiting normally a more "fishy" tasting fish. I hope not as they are alot of fun to catch. It seemed Fishier than the redfish. So is this normal or could this have been something we did???

Brandon,
My experience is that whiting are "fishier" tasting than redfish, spanish, or pompano. I have had them fried fresh, but have not soaked them overnight in saltwater to see if they might be more mild. Some people love them, but I rate them much lower on the taste scale than pompano (#1), red drum (#2), or Spanish mackerel (#3). Hopefully, you will get some other opinions, and ideas on the best way to prep and cook them.

I fillet almost everything including cutting off the skin and rib bones. Then I put them in a plastic container after mildly salting them. I shake them up in McCormick's Cajun Seafood Fry Mix. I deep fry them in a "Fry Daddy" until they're a nice brown color. I've never had whiting taste anything but wonderful. Mild, white flesh, beautiful and tasty. Not "fishy" at all! I've prepared them on the grill before and they were great that way, too.

I've never noticed them tasting "fishy", but I've always eaten them real fresh, and like Tom, I fillet and skin them. Nice, firm, white fleshed fish.

Once frozen, any 'red meat' on fish begins to break down.
And over a period (long) of time will get 'rancid' as all fat does (even in the deep freeze).
I try to freeze ASAP and VERY carefully trim ALL the 'red meat' off fish before freezing to help eliminate that smell.

Another thing that may help is rinsing the thawed fillets under cool water and sprinkling a dash of ground ginger on the fillets prior to cooking. As Harley Rogers told me long ago, the ginger helps neutralize 'fishy' smell and taste in frozen fish.

No red meat. I always trim that from fish, as I did the redfish (which was good). Fillets only frozen two weeks. Have to look into the ginger thing. One thing I'm thinking is my mom always uses a salted flour mix and doesn't cook them crispy. I'm thinking a cajun mix might be the thing to try.

I've never had fishy tasting Whiting. It's always been a fairly mild white meat even after it's been frozen for up to a year.
I have had very fishing pompano, but was told it's always that way unless grilled or broiled. Never fried. Are you sure you didnt mix up the packages?
Also redfish, being a little tougher. Has never been fishy as long as all red meat has been removed. Just my $ .02.

IMO, comparing whiting to redfish is like comparing hamburger to steak.

After sampling a taste of pompano, I don't think I would keep one if I caught one. Didn't care for it at all

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Originally Posted by stik

After sampling a taste of pompano, I don't think I would keep one if I caught one. Didn't care for it at all

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I'd like to take the opportunity to announce that I'm accepting donations of pompano from anyone who doesn't want theirs. For me, it's the best food of any kind I've ever eaten. No steak, no veggies, no casserole or other dish compares to pompano on the grill with garlic salt, butter, and a sprinkling of "Slap Yo' Momma" spice. I understand that some people don't like pompano and I'm thankful for that disparity in tastes!

I don't know, yeah I'm a weirdo, but I like fishy tasting fish.

whiting has generally been very mild when I've prepared it, I've never noticed a fishy taste or even had a complaint from anyone else- except for the time that I dropped a few of them on the sand; it's darn near impossible to get all the sand off of the fish and some ends up in the fillets during the cleaning process.

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Originally Posted by fshntime

I've never had fishy tasting Whiting. It's always been a fairly mild white meat even after it's been frozen for up to a year.
I have had very fishing pompano, but was told it's always that way unless grilled or broiled. Never fried. Are you sure you didnt mix up the packages?
Also redfish, being a little tougher. Has never been fishy as long as all red meat has been removed. Just my $ .02.

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Very sure about the packages. Two pompano, 16 whiting. Packages were definitely correctly identified.

I wouldn’t classify whiting as “fishy” tasting at all. How long were they in the fridge?

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Originally Posted by eym_sirius

I'd like to take the opportunity to announce that I'm accepting donations of pompano from anyone who doesn't want theirs. For me, it's the best food of any kind I've ever eaten. No steak, no veggies, no casserole or other dish compares to pompano on the grill with garlic salt, butter, and a sprinkling of "Slap Yo' Momma" spice. I understand that some people don't like pompano and I'm thankful for that disparity in tastes!

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Last April was our first trip to the GSSP. My wife Sharon caught a Pompano assisted by Chillinfish. He complimented it with one of his own. That night we baked it at the condo with nothing but a little salt, pepper, and butter. Best tasting fish I have eaten in the last
73 years!!!

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Originally Posted by CarlF

I wouldn’t classify whiting as “fishy” tasting at all. How long were they in the fridge?

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Frozen immediately after getting back to condo (iced cooler before). Thawed in refrigerator saturday night. Cooked for Sunday lunch. Basically same process we've used for decades.

Trim well before freezing in water works best second best is vacuum pack. Cut into small pieces and quickly deep fry with a Cajun style seasoning. I eat fish 3 to 4 times a week and whiting is one of my frequent choices.

Another thing I do to cut down on time, loss of taste and freezer burn is to bread and freeze my frying fish beforehand.
After trimming and rinsing they are breaded, placed side by side on a cookie sheet (no overlapping) between layers of wax paper...
https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...6f&oe=5D3A00B6

The next day they can peeled off the wax paper and dropped into a gallon ziplock bag (with the date on it)...
https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...22&oe=5D755D92


You can pull out a few pieces for a single meal, or cook the whole lot for the family.
Just drop them hot into the oil (like frying french fries ;-)

Most excellent on you David.
You taught me this tip years ago with white trout that were butterflied after scaling with a garden hose.

Looks like you might have some cheeks in the first pic ;-)

If you ever have some old, freezer burned fish you are considering chunking, try soaking it in saltwater. I thaw it in the fridge, rinse it, then soak it overnight in saltwater. I've never measured, but I'd guess a couple tablespoons of salt in a half gallon of water. I've even repeated the process over a couple days on really bad looking fish.Then rinse and cook. You will be amazed at the transformation! Two year old fish tastes remarkably close to fresh!

Thank you Mr. Flea!

Those were whiting in the first picture.
The smaller pieces were throats and eggs (split open and breaded).

Here's a link to the split white trout...
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...ish-%3B-16628/

That works for smaller whiting, croakers, even sweet trout!

What's a sweet trout? Bookmarked your link David (now I just need to make sure to stay somewhere with a hose!)

American silver perch (aka "sweet trout", "silver croaker", "yellowtail").
They are a close relative to seatrout and croakers, but a little smaller.
Only rarely do they even reach 8 inches, though they may live 5 or 6 years.
Great bait for specks, redfish, snapper, even kings will eat them.
They taste good, but aren't any bigger than average sized bream...
https://www.fishbase.in/summary/1165

Please excuse the derailment of this thread.
BTW, they don't taste "fishy" ;-) lol

[QUOTE=Pier#r;135017]

Those were whiting in the first picture.
The smaller pieces were throats and eggs (split open and breaded).

Eggs are breaded and fried similar to fillets? Other species eggs as well? Any tips?

I've never eaten the eggs from any saltwater species, but as a kid we would bread and fry the eggs from crappie, bluegill and sunfish. Texture is different, but the taste is pretty good.

Split open, breaded and fried is a great option for cooking fish eggs (roe sacks) of most fish...
https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...23&oe=5D304F36

Another option is to scrape the eggs out of the membrane (with a spoon or the side of a fork) and mix with hen's eggs...
https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...f5&oe=5D768255

They can be scrambled or made into an omelet...
https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...df&oe=5D2E7215

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...fb&oe=5D3DFA6A

Or even a breakfast burrito...
https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...f7&oe=5D29C99F

I've had a few batches of fish taste "fishy" or "off" but in those cases I can almost always attribute it to improper handling either with the cleaning or storing of the meat.

I typically ice down my fish immediately, then filet shortly after. As others have said, remove any dark red meat - although I typically don't notice a difference on most fish. I then rinse, vac pack, and freeze immediately if I am not eating it that day. To thaw I marinade in the fridge.

All meat, but especially fish will immediately begin to deteriorate once the fish is dead.

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Originally Posted by ShallowWaterAngler

So I've heard how great whiting are. I've brought fish home before, but this is the first year I've brought home pompano and whiting. I baked the pompano and it was great, but a week later, we had some whiting and Redfish. Part of the whiting was breaded and deep fried and the other part was cooked in a skillet with seasoning (dont ask with what, I didnt cook it). Well...... the whiting tasted fishy to me (yes I know its fish). Is whiting normally a more "fishy" tasting fish. I hope not as they are alot of fun to catch. It seemed Fishier than the redfish. So is this normal or could this have been something we did???

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Hello Brandon,
To get rid of a fishy smell, just soak the fish in milk for about 20 minutes, then pat it dry with a paper towel.
The science behind this method is that the trimethylamine oxide which is a common chemical in living things breaks down into trimethylamine when your fish is killed. That produces the fishy smell. The casein in the milk bonds with the trimethylamine , and while it does not fully extract it, a quick soak can pull most of it out, and reduce the smell.
Hope that helps,
FishLips

I read on this post where #r told someone to scale white trout with a garden hose. Caught about 50 today and tried it. Can't believe I've lived 55 years without knowing this trick!!!