Recipe Monk Fish ( Angler Fish, Lophilade )

The Late Night Gourmet said:
Excellent write-up on much more than just how to prepare the fish. I also have heard the term poor man's lobster applied to monkfish, for the reasons you say, but it's not exactly cheap here, if you can even find it. I did find a fish market that has it for $13.99/pound...frozen. But, not being a native of these waters, I suppose that's not so bad.
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@The Late Night Gourmet,

For Wild Fresh Monkfish: I pay approx. between 10 Euros - 14 Euros per kilo ..

Yes, I understand it is not very common in the Mid West or southern Atlantic.

It is a northern Atlantic fish, which is found north of Portugal in Galicia, however, they have migrated to the Mediterranean as well ..

Thank you very much.

Have a lovely weekend ..
 
Cinisajoy said:
You mean Monkfish isn't just a fish that went to the seminary.
By the way, I have never seen or eaten a Monkfish.
Bass, trout and catfish are more popular down here. Note: there are many varieties of the first two.
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@Cinisajoy,

I am scanning a photo from my book for you right now ..

I will post it in a few minutes ..

19.00 Now ..
 
Monkfish:
Monkfish-front-2-rs-1.jpg
The monkfish is not endangered and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature class it as a species of Least Concern with a stable population, but Greenpeace has added monkfish to its Redlist due to the destructive bottom trawling methods that are used to catch this species
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Name Confusion
Only species in the Lophius family can be labelled as monkfish in the UK.

There can be much confusion over what exactly a monkfish is, mostly because the name monkfish is (or has been) applied to a wide number of fish. Today in Britain monkfish is understood to be the species Lophius piscatorius which is featured on this page. Under UK labelling regulations only the genuine monkfish species from the Lophius family can be labelled or named monkfish in packaging or on fish counters. However, in previous decades the angel shark (Squatina squatina) was referred to as monkfish in the UK. Sometimes people will argue that the monkfish should be called anglerfish. This is not a particularly useful term as anglerfish is in fact a generic name for any fish which uses a fin or other protuberance to attract and catch prey. To complicate things further the monkfish featured on this page is called goosefish in North America, and headfish in other parts of the world, and used to go under names such as frog-fish and sea-devil which are rarely used now.
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Angel Shark:

Angel-Shark-2.jpg
Throughout the twentieth century the angel shark was a fairly common fish throughout British waters. However, the rise of commercial fishing has seen this species decline massively. Although the angel shark has no commercial value it is often caught in the nets of trawlers and then simply thrown back into the sea dead as part of the bycatch. The angel shark’s seabed-dwelling nature making it particularly vulnerable to being caught by seabed trawling, but long-lines and static nets have also badly affected numbers of this species. By the year 2000 the angel shark was classed as vulnerable by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), with former angel shark hotspots such as Westport and Tralee Bay, both in Ireland, being found to be completely absent of angel sharks. In 2006 the angel shark was declared extinct in the North Sea and its overall conservation status was raised to Critically Endangered with a declining population trend, meaning that this species faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future.
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Source: http://britishseafishing.co.uk
 
@morning glory,

Thank you very very much for the information on Monkfish verses Angler Fish ..

I have known my Fish Monger practically all my adult life and he is extremely knowledgeable about the fish / shellfish / seafood that he buys from the fishermen and re-sells to the public ..

I have never doubted his integrity about selling endangered species or falsifying what he sells .. My parents and I have a Company, and we have a business friendship and collaboration with him for many years ..

Could you possibly help me with turning the 2 book pages I posted on The Monkfish right side up ?

Thank you so much ..
 
Cinisajoy said:
I have to say one thing, it is uglier than a catfish.
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@Cinisajoy

I agree with you. The monkfish is quite a hideous looking sea creature however, it tastes very similar to lobster with a very similar texture !

The huge heads are sliced off and sold for " seafood stocks" for seafood soups ..

It is an exquisite fish, if you know how to prepare it ..

Have a lovely weekend ..
 
buckytom said:
This took me all of 30 seconds to look up and copy:

There are lots of related species around the world and the terms Angler fish and Monkfish may refer to different (or occasionally the same) species depending on the source of your information but most British anglers (that's the people not the fish) would recognoise two different species and to avoid confusion the latin names are:

The Angler fish - Lophius Piscatorius
The Monkfish - Squatina Squatina

If you google the latin names you'll be able to easily distinquish between the two.

I think some of the confusion may be due to the fishmongering/catering trade seeking to deliberately mislead people. Monkfish is well known as a prime table fish but frankly Angler fish is very similar in appearance (once gutted, skinned and prepared for the fishmongers slab) and therefore valuable - if it is called Monkfish.

If someone chooses to call it Monkfish then it is Monkfish! (Even though we know it's not).

And:

The true monkfish (Squatina squatina) aka Angel Shark is becoming increasingly rare and with fragmented populations is in danger of extinction. I doubt if nowadays it ever gets sold for human consumption.
The angler fish (Lophius piscatorius) is not even a member of the shark family, but it is confusingly called monkfish by commercial fishermen and those in the fish trade. This fish is often sold in supermarkets and restaurants, but nearly always as a skinned tail.
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Here in the UK, we only know Lophius piscatorious (angler fish) as monkfish. Apparently, the head is so scary that it gets lopped off at sea, so we only get the tails and the cheeks. Monkfish tail, wrapped in Palma ham is an 80's classic. Last year, our fishmonger sold us some cheeks to try - a first for us. He called them 'poor man's scampi'. We deep fried them in tempura batter, and served them with aioli. They were ok, but a little chewy. That may have been unskilled cooking.
 
Francesca said:
Mionk fish, or Angler fish, is from the Lophius Piscatorius family of fish. It had been indigenious to Galicia, where it was named Verdadero, " True Fish " ..

The Basque call it Zapo Beltz, and the Spaniards call it " Ra pe " .. In Catalonia, we call it, Granota de Mar, which denotes " Enormous Fish " ..

Monk fish has often been called " The Poor Man´s Lobster " because of the texture being quite similar.

The carnivorous Monk fish is quite a large catch and looks like an ugly ugly huge, "cat fish" with an extremely large head.

This fish is a sailor´s heaven on earth and the sauce, which is served separately is called: Matelot which consists of fresh red ripe de-seeded and peeled tomato, Almonds, Garlic, Smoked Paprika and Pine Nuts or Hazelnuts and day old bread sautéed in Evoo.

I just grill mine and prepare the Matelot Sauce separately ..

The Monkfish:

1 Kilo of Monk fish ( ask your Fish Monger to cut into thick slices as in Photo )
50 Ml. Evoo or 1 / 3 Cup
200 Grams of leek and shallots ( 100 grams of each ) - Minced Finely.
300 grams of fresh red ripe tomatoes de - seeded and peeled ..
1 clove of minced garlic ( however, you can add 2 cloves depending on size of the cloves )
60 grams of toasted almonds ( toast them in sauté skillet )
2 tblsps of pine nuts or hazelnuts
2 thick slices of day old Baguette
1/2 cup of water
salt to taste
Smoked Pimentón ( smoked paprika ) .. La Vera, Extremadura .. It is sold world wide in Latin American Grocers or sections of main supermarkets ..

1) Wash the monk fish and allow to drain.
2) Heat some Evoo in a skillet and sauté the shallots and leeks ( minced )
3) When the shallots & leeks soften, add the minced tomatoes and sauté gently, to form a Pesto type texture.
4) Now, add some minced fresh parsley and smoked paprika .. Stir clockwise and remove from the stove.
5) Crush the garlic clove in a Mortar and put in the almonds, the pine nuts and the sautéed bread cubes or you can place in a food processor if you wish ..
6) Add the tomato mixture and blend thoroughly while adding a lttle wáter, depending on the "salsa" or pesto texture you prefer.
7) Now, place a bit of the sauce, to make a bed, for the fish. In other words, lay your Monkfish in a large "earthenware " or oven glass casserole if you prefer, and season the fish with salt and place gently on top of a bit of the sauce ..
8) *** I have grilled mine this time for 15 minutes instead of preparing on the sauce ..
9) You shall see the photo: shows a grilled slab of Monkfish ..
10) Serve the sauce or salsa on the side in a sauceboat ..

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Looks great. Is that a mushroom on top? And parsley? Doesn't look like I would have expected having read the recipe.
 
epicuric said:
Looks great. Is that a mushroom on top? And parsley? Doesn't look like I would have expected having read the recipe.
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@epicuric

1 Mushroom, 1 lemon, a bit of broccoli, 1 carrot a pinch of parsley ..

I prepare my sauces on the side and put them in a sauce boat ..

This was my plate and I prefer no sauce ..

Thank you and have a nice evening ..
 
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