Skate?

[lowviz]

Along with diving, I am an avid saltwater fisherman. Over the years, I've probably thrown a metric ton of skate and ray back. I've just become aware that they are highly desirable fish in other parts of the world. To be specific: Clearnose, thorny, barndoor, winter, and little. Which are keepers?

Stories? Tips? Recipies?

 

[maj2]

Not sure which species it was, but we used to see skate wing in our local fish counter at the grocery store.

It was quite tasty. Most of the time, we used to saute them in a brown butter sauce. Something like the recipe at Make Quick and Easy Skate Wing with Brown Butter or Skate Meunière with Browned Butter and Capers

Can't remember the last time I saw it in the store though. The fish counter focuses almost exclusively on more sustainable fisheries these days. That is a good thing, but there are some fish that I miss-- including skate wing.

 

[oly5050user]

The scallops you get for dinner maybe skate cut up with a cookie cutter. You will probably never know.

 

[RyanT]

The scallops you get for dinner maybe skate cut up with a cookie cutter. You will probably never know.

Scallops actually have a distinct texture and flavor. Also, in scallops, the muscle fibers run "north to south." If skate wings were punched to mimic scallops, the muscle fibers would run in a more "east to west" orientation.

 

[lowviz]

...//... Can't remember the last time I saw it in the store though. The fish counter focuses almost exclusively on more sustainable fisheries these days. That is a good thing, but there are some fish that I miss-- including skate wing.

Thanks for the recipes!

I'm all about sustainable fishing. In the 70's you could catch all the speckled trout you wanted from the beach. Now, nothing. I wouldn't keep one if I caught one and they are one of my top favorite fishes.

Been doing my homework before going out. Found this: Skates - Status of Fishery Resources off the Northeastern US
So it seems that one can take any skate. However, some species are overfished and others are on an 'acceptable' decline. I'll limit myself to those species that are out of danger and increasing.

 

[KeithG]

The scallops you get for dinner maybe skate cut up with a cookie cutter. You will probably never know.

Not at a reputable restaurant. And not if you actually like seafood and are paying attention. Skate & Scallops are very different.

One of our local high end Portuguese restaurants often features skate wing as part of their fresh seafood offerings. They bring a tray of fish samples around to your table and describe each fish and where it came from. As noted by @RyanT the muscle texture of skate is very unique and distinctive.

dinner -

 

[maj2]

Another interesting article on Skate: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-we-eating-more-of-it/?utm_term=.0db3856f42d2

It seems there is a difference between the meat from the top of the wing and the meat from the bottom of the wing. A couple of chefs in the article have distinctly opposite views on which is better. I don't really recall much difference myself... I used all of the meat, and threw away only the skin and cartilage.

The chef in the article who reports getting one serving of meat for every four pounds of wing by favoring the top meat and discarding the bottom certainly speaks to the sustainability of the fish...

I have read about unscrupulous restaurants and fishmongers substituting skate for scallops. I have certainly seen mislabelled fish at the fish counter, but agree that it would be hard to pull it off with skate or scallops. The meat is just too different.