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re: Restaurants that serve Swai instead of Catfish

Posted on 4/9/15 at 9:47 am to
Posted by LSUballs
RayVegas LA
Member since Feb 2008
37721 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 9:47 am to
The taste of wild caught river catfish is immensely better than pond raised imo. Not even close. I can't speak of the safety factor. But I know we have some dirty arse water so I try to space my Landmass river catfish consumption out pretty good.
This post was edited on 4/9/15 at 9:53 am
Posted by Mo Jeaux
Member since Aug 2008
58549 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 9:48 am to
quote:

I was at Restaurant Depot last week and saw a guy loading up on boxes of Swai. I really wanted to follow him and see where he went. So that I knew to never go there.


Why?
Posted by Winkface
Member since Jul 2010
34377 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 9:52 am to
Serving Swai in south Louisiana is a disgrace, imo.



ETA: Dude, look. I know you have some deep-seated hatred for me for whatever reason. You really don't have to argue with everything I say.
This post was edited on 4/9/15 at 9:54 am
Posted by Mo Jeaux
Member since Aug 2008
58549 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 9:53 am to
quote:

Serving Swai in south Louisiana is a disgrace, imo.


Meh. I'd have no problem with it if they weren't lying about what it is.
Posted by BottomlandBrew
Member since Aug 2010
27062 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 10:10 am to
quote:

How much safer is pond raised?


Farm raised catfish can be raised in self-contained pools. Water quality going in and out can be controlled. Most US farm raised catfish are free of antibiotics, and none of the water contamination risks you run with wild catfish.
Posted by busbeepbeep
When will then be now?
Member since Jan 2004
18307 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 10:32 am to
quote:

I was at Restaurant Depot last week and saw a guy loading up on boxes of Swai. I really wanted to follow him and see where he went. So that I knew to never go there.

I saw the same thing on Good Friday morning over there.

If a place says Fried Fish then I assume they're using this stuff. If the menu says catfish and they use this, then that's messed up (but I'm sure very commonplace)
Posted by JasonL79
Member since Jan 2010
6397 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 10:47 am to
Basa/Swai (both very similar) outsell domestic catfish 2-3 to 1 in the state of Louisiana. This goes for when I worked for my family's wholesale distribution seafood company and also when I worked at Restaurant Depot for a year.
Posted by windshieldman
Member since Nov 2012
12818 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 10:49 am to
LINK

YouTube video about Swai being caught and prepared
Posted by Jones
Member since Oct 2005
90447 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 10:58 am to
Swai is catfish.

Sounds like you just needed to hear American in the situation, which is fine.


quote:

If a place says Fried Fish then I assume they're using this stuff. If the menu says catfish and they use this, then that's messed up (but I'm sure very commonplace)


See above but doing that seems illegal according to wiki for plenty of catfish species not native to north America
This post was edited on 4/9/15 at 11:44 am
Posted by LSUTygerFan
Homerun Village
Member since Jun 2008
33232 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 11:23 am to
quote:

Isn't Basa becoming a popular replacement too?


i was told that basa was basically catfish raised in some sort of pond with a net at the bottom to keep the fish from eating the shite that fell to the bottom.

but that could be total BS.


ETA: the United States Congress passed a law in 2003 preventing the imported fish from being labelled as catfish, as well as imposing additional tariffs on the imported fish.[11] Under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruling, only species from the family Ictaluridae can be sold as true catfish.[3] As a result, the Vietnamese exporters of this fish now label their products sold in the U.S. as basa fish or bocourti.[12][13]
This post was edited on 4/9/15 at 11:25 am
Posted by Jones
Member since Oct 2005
90447 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 11:28 am to
Further reading

quote:

At the height of the "catfish war", U.S. catfish farmers and others were describing the imported catfish as an inferior product. However, Mississippi State Universityresearchers found imported basa were preferred 3-to-1 to US catfish in a small (58 testers) blind taste test.[14]


The mind is a powerful thing when you want to convince yourself the American product is better
Posted by LSUTygerFan
Homerun Village
Member since Jun 2008
33232 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 11:34 am to
i've only knowingly had basa once.. But i may have had it hundreds of times...

the one time i know about, i don't remember anything different about it. It was just fried fish.

But, i think restaurants should at least have to tell you what you're getting.


This post was edited on 4/9/15 at 11:35 am
Posted by Jones
Member since Oct 2005
90447 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 11:44 am to
quote:

But, i think restaurants should at least have to tell you what you're getting.



Agree.
Posted by LSUTygerFan
Homerun Village
Member since Jun 2008
33232 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 11:46 am to
i mean ,most of the places that serve talapia tell you up front.
Posted by Jones
Member since Oct 2005
90447 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 11:54 am to
Besides fish, what else can they label it as?
Posted by tigersownall
Thibodaux
Member since Sep 2011
15296 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 12:14 pm to
Are you really surprised that places don't separate oil? Most restaurants run off one or two fryers. If you get busy your not worried about oh. Were only gonna drop fish into one fryer.
Posted by LSUTygerFan
Homerun Village
Member since Jun 2008
33232 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 12:17 pm to
quote:

Are you really surprised that places don't separate oil?


thought there was some kind of law regarding this?
Posted by LouisianaLady
Member since Mar 2009
81185 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 12:19 pm to
They separate seafood from chicken and fries and stuff.

They don't have to separate fish from shellfish. That would require many vats.
(One catfish, one shellfish, one fries/non battered items, one-two misc battered items)
Posted by Hulkklogan
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Oct 2010
43296 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 12:20 pm to
I bought frozen Swai once.


Never again. I'm not a big fan of fish to begin with, but that shite was
Posted by LSUTygerFan
Homerun Village
Member since Jun 2008
33232 posts
Posted on 4/9/15 at 12:23 pm to
quote:

They don't have to separate fish from shellfish.


makes sense..

i have a daughter with seafood allergies and we always ask if the fries,cheese sticks etc.. are fried separate from seafood.
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