It’s a Fishy world out there…

I always wanted to taste all kinds of sea food available in our fish markets. But my mother used to scare me when I was young saying that other fish expect the Vanjaram will have lots of thorns in them and it may get stuck in your throat if not chewed properly.

There is no need of any proof that vanjaram has the best taste both in Fry and Stew (Kolambu) category and because of its taste it is also the costliest. It just has one centre bone and rest all is flesh.

But I always wanted to taste other kind of fishes. The biggest hurdle in it is each and every fish is called differently in different parts of Tamilnadu. In Tuticorin the Vanjaram is called as Sheela Fish. So this was one of the biggest hurdle.

Soon after I came to Chennai about 9 years back from Tuticorin. We tried buying fish from Velachery Fish market. But I did not like the taste of the fish. I will not say it was bad but it was very decent. Tuticorin had a better tasting fish. But Until one fine day about a year back when I discovered the government Fish stall near Gemini Flyover. The name of the stall is Neithal Fish Complex. It has 3 shops in itself. One is the Ornamental fish. The second is the edible raw fish stall. The third is the Fish food centre where they make dishes out of fish and serve.

The fish bought there reignited my taste buds. And it started my craving for fish once again. The reason being that it is very fresh. Which means the fish available in Velachery markets are refrigerated once? And there is a marked difference in taste from fresh and refrigerated once. So people in Chennai please try out the fish from Neithal complex and I am sure you will revisit it again.

Inside Neithal Complex

http://www.thehindu.com/2009/02/28/stories/2009022858430300.htm

Now coming to my story, Neithal started my carving for fish and I wanted to taste all the variety which they are selling. But I did not know which one is good for fry and which one is good for stew. My mom neither knew the names as we did not bother to find out names of other fish except Vanjaram after coming to Chennai. So I took up this challenge of knowing the names of the commonly available fish in our Chennai market and then try to taste them all.

It’s a little embarrassing when I stand in a crowded fish stall not knowing the names and asking the sales guy out there who is already very busy about fishes and asking if it will be good for fry or stew. But as I had a challenge laid in front of me I had to know the names and taste them all.

The first fish other than Vanjaram which I came to know and taste is Nethili. It is a very small fish about the size of your finger and has a distinct taste. I tasted it about a month back and today I went and bought 2 kind of fish. Sankara and Koduva. Sankara is used for making only Stew and Koduva is fine with both Fry and Stew. And both tasted amazing. although Sankara had a lot of thorns for its size but had a good taste. I have started my challenge and I think very soon I am going to complete it. 

My next target is Vavval.

You can have a look at the below picture. It surely helped me knowing things and gives my status so far.

You too enjoy the sea food. Fishes have the least fat and are a very good source for proteins.