SWAI BOTHER?

First, let me say that I like mild fish.
None of the strong flavored fish that are so ultra good for you appeal to me. I would no sooner eat a medium rare tuna steak than I would eat some of Bear's dog food.
No salmon, no mackerel, no fresh tuna.
Nope.
None.

So, I was really surprised when I tried SWAI.
SWAI or BASA is an Asian catfish that is farm raised, flash frozen, and shipped to your local grocery store.

I checked it out on the net to see what the heck SWAI was first ... kind of hard to tell from a clean filet.
Catfish.
Well, why didn't they say so?

(Answer: Protectionist USDA policy only allows the right (North American) genus of catfish to be marketed as catfish here.)

I had high hopes for a great piece of fish. The filets were clean and white with no dark myoglobin filled regions.
Myoglobin stores oxygen for fish and it gives the meat a dark color and a strong "fishy" flavor.
You can actually look at a filet of fish and get an idea for whether the species is a couch potato or an athlete.
Speedy active swimmers (athletes) like tuna, mackeral, and salmon will be loaded with dark muscle ... and strong fishy flavor.
Ambush predators (couch potato) like flounder, grouper, snapper, will have more white muscle and a milder flavor.



I dredged them in a commercial fish fry mix even though I really prefer the crunchiness of good ol' cornmeal.
Then I deep fried them with some shrimp.



A little fish, a little Selmo salad, a little shrimp, a little datil relish ... should be a lotta good eating.

And it was, mostly, but the SWAI was pretty boring.

A little too much like eating tofu ... no taste and soft.

I like some dental resistance when I chomp on a piece of fish and SOME fish flavor, just not too much.

On a scale of 1-10, I give SWAI 3's in both flavor and texture.

I need to go fishing obviously and eat some REAL fish.



If you hung in there with me this summer, you know I take forever to finish a paint job, but the PFHQ exterior is done now except for a touch-up punch list and a few foundation pilings.
Soooo ... I thought I'd share it with you.

Remember, it was basic cedar brown before.

One of the things I like most about it now is simply losing the lattice that masked the porch foundation.
I love the way the house seems to sit up higher and to me, it's more country and less gingerbready.

FC is not very gingerbready.

In other news ...

• I planted a new Satsuma tree and bought a new Meyer lemon tree. The lemon is small and loaded with blossoms, so I think I will keep it in the pot through this winter. That way I can run it in on nights like last night when the temp was in the mid 20's F.

• We have eaten the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers except for that ham bone that will soon be Columbia Spanish Bean Soup soon.

• I'm still doing P90X, but I stretched out this past week of recovery exercise to let a sore elbow get ready for the next and final multi-week segment of heavy lifting. Tonight begins Week 9 and it looks like torture. I'm happy to say the holiday feasting was only a minor bump in that road.

• I used my dead deer pics and video in class today to illustrate the Carbon Cycle and I had them from the first disgusting picture. I think they may have grasped the concept finally. It's hard to tell with 9th graders ... they are not like you or me.

• Frank Update: Long time readers might remember my project kid, Frank. We don't see each other as much since he is not in my class. He played football this season and did well. I have not seen his name on any discipline memos, and as far as I know he's doing okay. I think he's involved in a dance or step team also. So, I guess the update, even though it's short on factual detail, is that he is all right.
  

I am not prematurely announcing "Mission Accomplished" regarding Frank, simply that the SITREP is positive.