Weird question maybe, but I don’t think I ever liked the taste of fish, except when I was young. I vaguely remember eating fish fingers and (I think) plaice. But then I stopped and never went back to it. I dislike the smell, I find salmon bland (although that may have been the salmon I tasted once). Are there any particular fish that would make the crossover from chicken to fish easier? Or any recipes that don’t disguise the taste of the fish too much, but make it more palatable for somebody that isn’t crazy about the taste? I see the health benefits and would love to just get stuck in, but there seems to be a block with the associated smell and I guess a one off bad one that put me off eating it. I picked up cod in the supermarket today, and then decided I should ask here first…😁 So hopefully I get a mixture of answers, but mostly some helpful. Thanks for reading.
Edit. Wow, wasn’t expecting to see this many replies. I have already seen some great ideas that I’m definitely going to try. I have to go through them all.
I also don’t like fish
I find that sushi is less offensive to me than cooked most of the time, so that’s one place to start. Still not something I’d actively seek out but if it’s what’s offered to me I can deal with it.
I also overall find freshwater fish to be more palatable, I enjoy fishing so if I catch some decent sized trout worth keeping I’ll eat them (it’s more for my wife, but if we’re already cooking it I’ll eat it)
My mom’s also not a fish eater, but can stomach flounder.
If you found salmon bland, then “fishy” tasting fish probably won’t be a problem for you. Cod is a very mild and delicious fish and it’s what I would have recommended.
If fishiness isn’t going to bother you then you can probably cook it any way you want. Oven roasted or pan seared would be good bets. If you wanted something to make it delicious and not mask the taste too much, fried fish in a simple batter can’t be beat imo.
I also don’t like many fish I think of as ‘fishy’ and salmon is not one of them, meaning I don’t percieve it as fishy. So I think maybe not everyone means the same thing by ‘fishy’.
- Get some catfish and some cornflour and an egg. Cut the catfish into nuggets. Dip in the egg wash. Roll lightly in the cornflour and salt/pepper mixture. Fill a pan with oil. Deep fry. Yum!
- Get some mahi mahi. Place on some tin foil. Add a pat of butter on top of each. Grill it up until flaky but not dried out. Salt to taste. mahi is so mild, like no fish flavor. Delish!
- Get a tuna steak. Soak it in a bit of ponzu sauce. Get an iron skillet nice and hot with a little splash of oil. Toast some sesame seeds on it. Put those to the side. Then get your tuna and sear it on all sides. Add a dash of salt (if you want, the ponzu may be salty enough) and the seeds. Enjoy.
- if you like spicy, get a good blackened seasoning, it can help mask the fish flavor
- also, try sushi, but like from a good place. Rolls will hide the taste much better than sashimi, which is meant to showcase the fish. Fresh sushi (yellowtail, salmon, tuna, mackerel) has almost no fish taste. Eel has a steak like taste, but can be a bit fishy. Do not go for urchin, it’s like a straight up fish umami bomb.
My wife likes fish more than I do, but she can’t stand catfish. Tastes like any other fish to me, not her. 🤷🏻♂️
I really love tilapia in butter with a bit of lemon, salt and pepper. It’s a mild and subtle tasting fish, and it’s hard to mess it up when cooking. You can get frozen loins for cheap because they’re plant fed and easily farmed. Cook until flakey, don’t burn it, serve with some pan fried or roasted veggies and rice or quinoa. I’ve only ever had it take on that “fishy” smell when I left it to thaw in the fridge too long.
Yep, OP should start with tilapia, the white bread of fish.
OP: When you fry it in oil, get it really hot first. You want to cook it fast under high heat so it caramelizes and sweetens.
This seems crazy to me as tilapia has a dirty taste to it IMO, similar to cod and halibut. If OP wants some flavor I think sushi rolls are the way to go followed by nigiri and then the “white bread fish”
Freshness is key. A lot of the taste / smell qualities that put off people who aren’t big on fish increase rapidly with time. So make sure you buy your fish from a source you really trust to have fresh fish, keep it cold (put it on ice, even, on the way home from the store), and use it right away. Like, that very day if at all possible, or at least the next day.
Soaking it in water with some lemon juice can also reduce some of those flavors.
Fish&Chips and sushi might be a good start, at least that’s how I started eating fish even though I hated anything coming out of the water for my first 25 years or so. Maybe shrimps? Especially fried. Basically fried battered stuff, they usually don’t use the tasty fish in that stuff so the taste is mild.
It would be the best to try out many different breeds of fish to figure it out. Smoked mackerel and smoked salmon have very distinct taste and can be either a very good start or the opposite. Besides that maybe trout? Also depends what kind of fish they sell at your local stores.
Make sure you only count 1 fish.
Many fish are too much for just one person, more often than not.
Don’t be like The Count with them. Before you know it, you’ll be a high count of fish and not have enough stomach room for them.
The salmon you had being bland probably has more to do with how it was prepared
Up until my 20’s I thought steak was disgusting but it turns out that my parents just loved to cook every steak well-done with no seasoning besides A1 sauce and maybe a little salt and pepper. It turns out I love steak just not anything above medium (except carne asada).
I remember in my childhood I didn’t like most fish, although I do now.
Even at the time, I still liked fish sticks (those from the store, not the ones they served in restaurants for some reason), smoked salmon, and the McDonald’s Filet-o-Fish sandwich. I still like all of these things… point is, maybe start with those.
FWIW, I’ve a relative who dislikes fish, but who often makes an exception for local fish & chips. Locally the preference is for haddock which is what’s generally served, and what that relative gets.
The same relative is less fond of cod, so I guess the advice there, if any, is if you try cod and don’t like it, try haddock. Or vice versa.
add something sour, like lemon-juice. also eat it while it is still warm that helps me at-least.
Try catfish. It’s very different to any other fish out there, whole new flavor. Stronger, too, which could be a positive if you find salmon bland.
I hated fish as a kid, then during college I smoked some weed and went to a sushi place. I like fish now. Must’ve rewired my brain 🤷♂️
Smoking is bad, mkay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM87RYAsrSc
This video (6:13) is about shrimp, but it has great advice for someone who’s not a seafood person but wants to incorporate that into their diet.
