Yellow tail kings - mush?

[Deiter]

G'day lads and lasses, quick q about eating kingy's.

I kept one for the first time last weekend, about a 5kg job, and took him home and fillet and skinned.

the mrs crumbed and shallow fried the peices, looked a million dollars, but the flesh turned to mush in my mouth.

I couldn't eat it. The flavour was good, but it had the texture of mashed potato. Is this normal?????

Is there a better way to prepare them to retain some firmness to the fillets? Was it just a bad fish?

I know they are not a reknowned table fish, but thought they would be better than that.
Suggestions??

Damo

[banshee]

The flesh of some Kingies from subtropical waters has a parrasite present, unfortunately there is no way of knowing which fish are affected untill they are cooked,when,as you have found the flesh turns to mush.

[RCG008]

Banshee spot on the mark. Bigger Kingies increase the chance of the parasite. Smaller ones seem to be free of it. Unsure the further north you go though.

Still the all the smaller ones ive eaten "cause thats all I can catch" have had a very firm texture and great taste. They can dry out very quickly when cooked.

[sleepygreg]

Once you get north of Coffs there is a parasite that affects some kingies that turns the flesh to mush. IT IS NOT HARMFUL TO US. But it aint pleasant to eat. i use the rule of making sure i prepare meals from two or three fish at a time...and make sure i cook twice as much as i need.....its rare that all fish are contaminated. and stear clear of the larger ones in the north.

Cheers
Greg

[Deiter]

Cheers guys, just the info was looking for.

Damo

[idiotfisher]

yep cooked hundreds of kingies over the years from 10lb to 30lb.never had them turn to mush on me,but they were from near coffs NSW. tasty if done right(customers seemed to like them)but i prefer to have kingfish as sushimi.I reckon samson has got more flavour.

[moondancer]

The mush is a parasite causing an enzyme breakdown in the flesh - not pleasnt, but not harmful. Also affects other fish sometimes - I've had a few dolphin fish/ mahi mahi with the same. The only difference I could pick was the mushy ones didn't fight and leap around as much......for what its worth.

Dont let this put you off eating kingiues - they're great fresh on the BBQ!!! It was just bad luck with the one you had.