My Dh and I have decided to start eating fish atleast once a week. Neither if us are huge fish fans so I wanted some opinions on which fish are less "fishy" tasting. Neither of us like salmon. I will be broiling or grilling it so I would need fish that can stand up to that. Any tips on cooking it would be great too.Thanks ladies!

By Trina~moderator on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 09:35 am:

I was going to suggest salmon. LOL! We love it! How about swordfish? We usually broil our fish with a little bit of dill, seasoning and lemon juice.

By Heaventree on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 09:40 am:

You can grill Trout filets if you leave the skin on one side while grilling, it's a lot more mild than salmon.

By Debbie on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 09:45 am:

Talapia is a very mild fish that isn't as "fishy" as most. I season it and put it on the grill. I hate to cook fish inside because then the entire house smells like fish.

By Pamt on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 09:48 am:

I don't like fish because it is so fishy tasting. However, the few fish I will eat are: flounder, red snapper, orange roughy, and catfish (yes, everyone says they are the grossest of all fish, but being raised in the south I grew up on fried catfish and I love 'em). These are all mild, flaky, white fish. They could handle broiling, but probably not grilling.

To me, salmon or any fish that comes in a "steak" is super icky and trout are rather beefy fish as well, IMO.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 09:53 am:

I love salmon, lake perch, walleye, red snapper, orange roughy, swordfish and northerns.

A few years in a row, orange roughy is what Emily wanted for her birthday meal!

By Luvn29 on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 10:32 am:

I don't like fish at all, but I just wanted to tell you since your daughters may be eating it, too, to watch the mercury content in the fish. Certain fish contain more mercury than others, and should not be eaten more than once a week. It is still very healthy for you, but you don't want the mercury build-up in your family's blood!

By Missymelissy on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 10:52 am:

halibut is good -- very little fishy taste

By Colette on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 12:53 pm:

tuna steaks - just don't eat the dark part (that part tastes fishy) the rest doesn't taste fishy at all. It's nothing like what you get out of can. Salmon filets can be cooked in ways that they don't taste fishy too.

By Reds9298 on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 02:46 pm:

I was going to suggest salmon, too....LOOOOVE it! I personally thing orange roughy is about as fishy-tasting as it gets. Love flounder, too. Never had trout.

By Jackie on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 02:49 pm:

I am not a big fish eater myself. I do enjoy salmon though. I have not tasted many other types of fish.

By My2girlygirls on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 04:52 pm:

Thank you so much ladies. How about monkfish? My DH said he has eaten it and it wasn't fishy.

By Colette on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 05:11 pm:

Monkfish is ok. Suppose to taste similar to lobster but I don't think it does.

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 08:03 pm:

Sarah, there is a big difference in taste (to me) between Salmon filets and Salmon steaks. The steaks are the round pieces, usually 1-1/2 to 2 inches thick, and often with a bone in the center. Filets are cut like most other filets. I find the taste of the steak cut too strong for me. I saute the filets with a lemon-dill sauce. Tilapia is indeed a very light-tasting fish, as is trout. I personally like flounder and perch, both also light tasting (but it is hard to find perch today, at any price). I also like catfish, breaded and fried, but it is a bit stronger in taste (the seasoning & breading tend to disguise it - and I suspect frying it tends to make it a less "healthy" way of eating fish). I don't like strong-tasting fish myself.

Mercury in fish is indeed an issue. A recent Consumer Reports had an extensive article about just that issue. Here's a link to a table listing which fish are safest for children under 45 pounds and women who are or might be pregnant:
CR article It is one of their "free" articles, so I think the link will work. I subscribe to CR on-line, and some of their articles are not free.

Here is a link to more of the article (I'm not sure if this is a "free" part) discussing mercury levels in canned tuna and CR's disagreements with the FDA on the results of the FDA studies: tuna

By Mrsheidi on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 08:54 pm:

I love salmon and tuna...yum! And, of course, trout soup! A Colorado favorite!

By Dana on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 06:21 pm:

Talapia is very yummy and easy to find as well. It goes great w/ a mango salsa topping.


And if you can get fresh wild salmon, grill it outside and coat w/ a mild honey BBQ. It is very tasty and not like fish at all. Really, anything on Salmon is good, but you want fresh wild salmon. Grilling is best. You can also broil in oven and get yummy results. The trick to making a good salmon taste great is all in the recipe.

By Kernkate on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 11:45 pm:

My 2 favs are haddock and halibut. The trick with these 2 are not to overcook. I do like breaded trout and bullheads when we catch them.

By Hol on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 12:38 am:

Being on the East Coast, we eat a LOT of seafood. It is very plentiful and very fresh. We don't eat a lot of fresh water fish. It is pretty tasteless in comparison, IMO.

We like haddock, flounder and cod the best. Haddock and cod are nice white fish that flakes into nice bite sized pieces when cooked. Flounder fillets are smaller and flatter, but very sweet.

We cook it all kinds of ways, but one of our favourites is on the grill. We spary foil with Pam spray, lay the fish on the foil, and then add what ever seasonings we want. REAL butter is a must, as well as lemon juice. Sometimes we add Italian salad dressing or a flavoured, bottle marinade. There are many. You can also add any herbs or spices that you want. Then we seal the foil packet and put it right on the grill. The steam builds up in the foil and cooks it, yet retains the moisture and flavour. It doesn't take long to cook, and there's no clean up.

I have also baked it in the oven with bread crumbs, butter and lemon juice, always covered with foil. Crushed up Ritz crackers also make a delicious crumb topping for the fish instead of bread crumbs. I think fish dries out too much when you broil it, unless it is a thick fish like swordfish or salmon steaks. They broil very well. You can also use the foil packet method on the grill with those, too.

I sometimes buy batter mix that is sold at the seafood counter, only instead of adding water, I add beer. The yeast in the beer makes the batter nice and light. I dip it in the batter and fry it in the skillet in vegetable oil. I also make homemade french fries to go with it and have fish and chips. Yummy!

I also make fish chowder. It is a basic cream soup with chunks of raw fish added that cook while simmering. You can add onions and potatoes, too. I make clam chowder, too.

We use the foil packet for scallops, too, with butter and lemon and crumbs. I have also baked them, cassarole style in the oven. Both come out very good.

Fish is so versatile, low fat, good for you, and there is no waste. Mercury is a concern, but it is mostly in swordfish, so it isn't recommended to eat it more than twice a month. However, fresh water fish from the Great Lakes have high concentrations of PCB's.

I have had pike in Minnesota and I have had trout. I have to say, if it is done right, it IS good.

By Hol on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 12:41 am:

REAL butter is the key with fish dishes. That's what makes it taste so good in restaurants.

By My2girlygirls on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 07:27 am:

Thank you so much. I bought some cod yesterday and I think we will try it this weekend. I did buy frozen so I hope that doesn't affect the taste, it said on the package that it was frozen fresh. We are really going to give it a shot. I'll let you know what we like and what we don't. Thanks again ladies. I knew I could count on you to help!

By Fraggle on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 08:04 am:

The fresher the fish is the less fishy it will taste. I personally do not like fish that has been frozen-but I know some people who think it is the best way to buy it. After a lot of time trying different seafood places, I finally found one I love. They cut the filet right off the whole fish right it front of you so you can really tell how fresh the fish is. They put it in bag with an ice pack so it stays really cold on the way home and then I cook it that day. I would definitely try halibut and haddock sometime, they are both very mild.