These are small silvery fish, maybe 4-5" and quite thin side-to-side, about
4-5 per pound. (10 cm, 100 g)

I ask because they are common here in New England, and Jasper White in his
"Cooking from New England" notes:

"Most of the butterfish caught commercially in New England skirts our market
and is shipped directly to Japan, where they are quite popular."

The American way to cook them would be to brush with oil and simply grill
them, perhaps after a bit of marinading. Or breaded and pan fried.

What preparation in Japan makes them popular enough to be worth shipping
halfway around the world :-)?

"ggull" > wrote in message
...
> These are small silvery fish, maybe 4-5" and quite thin side-to-side,
about
> 4-5 per pound. (10 cm, 100 g)
>
> I ask because they are common here in New England, and Jasper White in his
> "Cooking from New England" notes:
>
> "Most of the butterfish caught commercially in New England skirts our
market
> and is shipped directly to Japan, where they are quite popular."
>
> The American way to cook them would be to brush with oil and simply grill
> them, perhaps after a bit of marinading. Or breaded and pan fried.
>
> What preparation in Japan makes them popular enough to be worth shipping
> halfway around the world :-)?

Do a google search on "Himono"

"FreddieM" > wrote ...
>
> "ggull" > wrote ...
> >
> > What preparation in Japan makes them popular enough to be worth shipping
> > halfway around the world :-)?
>
> Do a google search on "Himono"

Thank you. I did google himono, but it's not very helpful. This appears to
be a generic term for dried fish or dried food in general. No recipes for
making or using himono (in the first 40 or 50 hits at least), and nothing
related to butterfish specifically.

Are you saying that these fish are dried upon reaching Japan and not cooked
fresh? I don't think I'll bother drying my own even if I get a recipe for
what to do with it -- the climate here doesn't really suit.

Incidentally, doing a bit more googling around, the "butterfish" I'm talking
about is the one as described, not the much larger sablefish (also known as
black cod), not the English eel. Small (maybe up to 10 inches and a pound,
but the ones I see at market are much smaller, half the length and a quarter
the weight or less), flattened side-to-side.
See
http://www.gortons.com/cookbook/gl_ab_bu.php#butterfish
http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2003/feb28-03.html

"ggull" > wrote in message
...
> "FreddieM" > wrote ...
> >
> > "ggull" > wrote ...
> > >
> > > What preparation in Japan makes them popular enough to be worth
shipping
> > > halfway around the world :-)?
> >
> > Do a google search on "Himono"
>
> Thank you. I did google himono, but it's not very helpful. This appears
to
> be a generic term for dried fish or dried food in general. No recipes for
> making or using himono (in the first 40 or 50 hits at least), and nothing
> related to butterfish specifically.
>
You won't find many recipes for making "Himono" as most people in Japan
don't make their own. Try a google search on the Japanese word for
Butterfish..."ebodai".

> Are you saying that these fish are dried upon reaching Japan and not
cooked
> fresh? I don't think I'll bother drying my own even if I get a recipe for
> what to do with it -- the climate here doesn't really suit.
>

Yes, I believe most of the Butterfish is dried, while some
are marketed fresh.

> Incidentally, doing a bit more googling around, the "butterfish" I'm
talking
> about is the one as described, not the much larger sablefish (also known
as
> black cod), not the English eel. Small (maybe up to 10 inches and a
pound,
> but the ones I see at market are much smaller, half the length and a
quarter
> the weight or less), flattened side-to-side.
> See
> http://www.gortons.com/cookbook/gl_ab_bu.php#butterfish
> http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2003/feb28-03.html
>

The sablefish (in canada) or Black Cod (in the US) is
called "gindara".
Butterfish is predominantly turned into himono as are are near infinite
number of small species. There is also something called "ichiya-boshi" where
it is not dried to the extent as "himono".
I have had butterfish as Sushi but its not that common.
Sometimes you will see buttrerfish as "nitsuke", where the fish is cooked
in a soy/mirin sauce and flavored.
Black Cod, along with Cod and Chilean Sea Bass(Patagonian Toothfish) is
almost always cooked grilled with Miso.

"FreddieM" > wrote
> You won't find many recipes for making "Himono" as most people in Japan
> don't make their own. Try a google search on the Japanese word for
> Butterfish..."ebodai".
....
> Yes, I believe most of the Butterfish is dried, while some
> are marketed fresh.
....
<ggull noted that 'butterfish' can also mean the much different sablefish>
> The sablefish (in canada) or Black Cod (in the US) is
> called "gindara".
> Butterfish is predominantly turned into himono as are are near infinite
> number of small species. There is also something called "ichiya-boshi"
where
> it is not dried to the extent as "himono".
> I have had butterfish as Sushi but its not that common.
> Sometimes you will see buttrerfish as "nitsuke", where the fish is cooked
> in a soy/mirin sauce and flavored.

Jasper White (the guru of local New England cooking, btw) recommends a
soy/mirin marinade for grilled mackeral, which he notes can be used for
butterfish.

> Black Cod, along with Cod and Chilean Sea Bass(Patagonian Toothfish) is
> almost always cooked grilled with Miso.
I ran across that recipe, or at least a reference to it.

Thanks for this extended info.
btw, are you posting from afa or scj?

"ggull" > wrote in message
...
> ">
> Jasper White (the guru of local New England cooking, btw) recommends
a
> soy/mirin marinade for grilled mackeral, which he notes can be used
for
> butterfish.
>
> > Black Cod, along with Cod and Chilean Sea Bass(Patagonian
Toothfish) is
> > almost always cooked grilled with Miso.
> I ran across that recipe, or at least a reference to it.
>
> Thanks for this extended info.
> btw, are you posting from afa or scj?

Perhaps, you knowledgeable people can tell me why a small rather
undistiguished fish (IMHO) is called "butter" fish?


--
James V. Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA

"James Silverton" > wrote
> Perhaps, you knowledgeable people can tell me why a small rather
> undistiguished fish (IMHO) is called "butter" fish?

In nosing around the web it seems that the name comes from the oily nature
of the flesh (or the oily/slimy nature of the skin, depending on what
butterfish one is talking about). I couldn't find the exact reference
again, but you might note the sites I posted earlier.

"ggull" > wrote in
:

> "FreddieM" > wrote ...
>>
>> "ggull" > wrote ...
>> >
>> > What preparation in Japan makes them popular enough to be worth
>> > shipping halfway around the world :-)?
>>
>> Do a google search on "Himono"
>
> Thank you. I did google himono, but it's not very helpful. This
> appears to be a generic term for dried fish or dried food in general.
> No recipes for making or using himono (in the first 40 or 50 hits at
> least), and nothing related to butterfish specifically.
>
> Are you saying that these fish are dried upon reaching Japan and not
> cooked fresh? I don't think I'll bother drying my own even if I get a
> recipe for what to do with it -- the climate here doesn't really suit.
>
> Incidentally, doing a bit more googling around, the "butterfish" I'm
> talking about is the one as described, not the much larger sablefish
> (also known as black cod), not the English eel. Small (maybe up to 10
> inches and a pound, but the ones I see at market are much smaller,
> half the length and a quarter the weight or less), flattened
> side-to-side. See
> http://www.gortons.com/cookbook/gl_ab_bu.php#butterfish
> http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2003/feb28-03.html

According to gortons, a butterfish is the same thing as a pomfret, in
which case you should look for a Malaysian or Singaporean recipe, since
pomfret is considered a great delicacy in those parts.

sq

"mroo philpott-smythe" > wrote > "ggull"
> wrote :
>
> > "FreddieM" > wrote ...
> >>
> >> "ggull" > wrote ...
<<...> >
> > Incidentally, doing a bit more googling around, the "butterfish" I'm
> > talking about is the one as described, not the much larger sablefish
> > (also known as black cod), not the English eel. Small (maybe up to 10
> > inches and a pound, but the ones I see at market are much smaller,
> > half the length and a quarter the weight or less), flattened
> > side-to-side. See
> > http://www.gortons.com/cookbook/gl_ab_bu.php#butterfish
> > http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2003/feb28-03.html
>
> According to gortons, a butterfish is the same thing as a pomfret, in
> which case you should look for a Malaysian or Singaporean recipe, since
> pomfret is considered a great delicacy in those parts.

My local Asian market carries both butterfish and pomfret (2 or 3
varieties).
They are indeed similar in shape, but what they call butterfish (and what I
see in another market catering more to Portuguese and similar immigrants) is
much smaller, and a bright silver. Even the silver pomfrets are not as
bright and clean silver as the butterfish. Maybe it's a different species,
or maybe just young pomfret?

I did get and cook some butterfish, but in the end it seemed a lot of work
for not a lot of reward :-). (As I recall, I just steamed them; this was an
oooold thread.)

"ggull" > wrote in
:

> My local Asian market carries both butterfish and pomfret (2 or 3
> varieties).
> They are indeed similar in shape, but what they call butterfish (and
> what I see in another market catering more to Portuguese and similar
> immigrants) is much smaller, and a bright silver. Even the silver
> pomfrets are not as bright and clean silver as the butterfish. Maybe
> it's a different species, or maybe just young pomfret?

Thanks for the info.

> I did get and cook some butterfish, but in the end it seemed a lot of
> work for not a lot of reward :-). (As I recall, I just steamed them;
> this was an oooold thread.)

I know. Apologies, I just discovered the group. Great group!

sq