Lionfish For Dinner

Last night I had dinner at a restaurant in Atlanta, and the fresh catch of the day was lionfish. Given that they are causing some environmental,problems, I figured that if I was going to have seafood, this was the fish to eat. They pan fried the whole fish and they served it tail and all intact. It was good, but not great, however I think the way it was prepared had a lot to do with that. Has anyone else seen lionfish on a menu or had it? Do you think it's possible or likely that making them a delicacy will reduce their numbers to minimize their effects on the environment?

On a recent trip to Grand Cayman we had dinner here..

http://fksa.org/show...47478#post47478

In Bonaire, where there is an active (but closely controlled) spearfishing effort, there are several restaurants that serve lionfish (Cactus Blue, Paradise Moon, and others). Best examples I had were fritters and ceviche. There is also a lionfish cookbook now. Have a look here:

http://www.reef.org/catalog/cookbook

Mike

I had some in Bonaire too, but caught and cooked by a Dive instructor who had a license.

Very nice I might add

I would not eat it prepared that way, if it was to be cooked whole then I would remove the fillets before serving. I have had filleted and pan fried, ceviche, deep fried fingers battered. All of which were yummy.

I also bbq'd a fillet once with lime and butter .. touch of salt and pepper .. awesome.

here are some good recipe sites too.

http://www.lionfishhunters.org/Recipes.html

This site used to be good too http://lionfishhunter.blogspot.com which had ercipes at lionfishhunter.com but it seems to be gone now.

It is a lovely gamey white fish that is probably one of the better alternative to everything that we shouldn't be eating. Even if the restaurant did it badly kudos for them to trying. Not many do even where it is easily available.

Yes, its a very tender and "sweet" fish and for taste actually beats at least most the fish we consume in the Caribbean.

The problem is that it needs to be tested for Ciguteira if it is to be served in restaurants, and it needs to become "known" with both the fishermen and the "market", i.e. become "popular". Better catching methods need to be figured out too - now they are being speared here which might have been a great idea when the invasion happened, and a lot of divers just love it because they enjoy spearfishing. But we are starting to see some of the less desirable effects of this method now (subject to another discussion) and it is doubtful that spearfishing would produce quantities large enough.

On a recent trip to Grand Cayman we had dinner here..

 

http://fksa.org/show...47478#post47478

Funny spelling of Vinegar - venigar in the caymans'

Yes, its a very tender and "sweet" fish and for taste actually beats at least most the fish we consume in the Caribbean.

The problem is that it needs to be tested for Ciguteira if it is to be served in restaurants, and it needs to become "known" with both the fishermen and the "market", i.e. become "popular". Better catching methods need to be figured out too - now they are being speared here which might have been a great idea when the invasion happened, and a lot of divers just love it because they enjoy spearfishing. But we are starting to see some of the less desirable effects of this method now (subject to another discussion) and it is doubtful that spearfishing would produce quantities large enough.

I have never seen one taken on a fishing line, I can't see them as a commercial fish species ever - unless aquacultured. even then the poisonous spines are an issue to prepare them for eating.

The problem is that it needs to be tested for Ciguteira if it is to be served in restaurants

Ciguteria poisoning in Lionfish, this is the first I have heard of it, but i guess it is area dependant.

http://www.greenantilles.com/2011/11/22/more-data-emerges-about-ciguatera-toxin-in-lionfish/

I always thought that fish that are predating on fish that live on wrecks would that make it more like, this article says otherwise. Very odd to see that some research was done here there has definitely been no question of eating them at all. The Dive staff here spear them and sell them to the restaurants for some good money. Have heard as much as $5 per fish. Most places $3. I am not worried about the poisoning, it doesn't sound like a wide spread problem, more like some guys found a few fish that had it in a certain area of a certain island.

But we are starting to see some of the less desirable effects of this method now (subject to another discussion) and it is doubtful that spearfishing would produce quantities large enough.

What ill effects are you noticing? I can't say that I have noticed any here. Infact we seem to have struck a nice balance with the amount of Lionfish around, enough to be seen but keeping the numbers low enough they are not as much of a threat.

Even then the poisonous spines are an issue to prepare them for eating.

When I do it I use scissors to cut off the spines after spearing the fish.