405514 Sat May 26 21:23:43 -0700 2007 9 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 2605309 I remember buying halibut that you had to cook lightly if you didn't want it to get tough. I recall buying flounder that was as meaty as cod. And now all of a sudden the halibut has the texture of a sponge mop, and when I grilled what looked like a nice meaty slab of flounder tonight it came out like fish-flavored mush! Jell-O is a tough steak by comparison. When did this happen? And why? Sat May 26 21:23:43 -0700 2007 11478 Will Owen 1 2605393 was the fish frozen prior to thawing before purchase? Sat May 26 22:38:44 -0700 2007 2605309 22559 smartie 2 2606219 No way to tell - that could be. I've read that fish is now routinely frozen on the boat when it's caught, and if flounder and halibut can't take that without dissolving I'll just have to stick with my little soles and sand dabs. Damn. Sun May 27 12:37:59 -0700 2007 2605393 11478 Will Owen 3 2608378 Back to sand dabs? I'd kill for sand dabs in the midwest! Every time I go home to Calif. sand dabs are at the top of the list for must have at every opportunity! Ok, Dungeness crab and great Mexican food too. Mon May 28 14:59:34 -0700 2007 2606219 16224 jackiecat 1 2605713 Although certainly not the answer in your case, dynamite fishing produces the same effect. Sun May 27 07:46:29 -0700 2007 2605309 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 2606407 I've heard that soaking or rinsing salt-water fish in fresh water will cause it to become mushy. Sun May 27 14:29:34 -0700 2007 2605309 57199 clamscasino 1 2607790 flounder as meaty as cod? i've never seen such a thing. it's a thin delicate flatfish, and i don't see how it could stand up to grilling. however, where you're buying the fish might be the problem. if it's thawed and refrozen then thawed again, the texture turns to mush. Mon May 28 09:48:17 -0700 2007 2605309 30273 hotoynoodle 2 2608374 I allowed myself to be misled by the cooking instructions pasted onto the package, instead of going into my seafood cookbooks as I should have done. However, this also gave me the moral authority to get my money back from Ralphs! Mon May 28 14:55:34 -0700 2007 2607790 11478 Will Owen 1 2609812 You are buying fish at Kroger/Ralph's? That stuff is nasty an dyou can bet your bippy it was previously frozen. You need to find an independent fish shop or fish and butcher shop. Now if you were to move back this way I could direct you to some very fine fish and seafood, meat too. Had some roasted Amber Jack to die for last weekend, just had come in an hour before, soft shell scrabs too. We've got Steve FAbian out of Galveston, Fabian Saefood, who works the midwest all apring through late fall bringing fresh gulf shrimp, and when available, oysters, flounder, red snapper, crab etc. All very fresh and never frozen. Prior to the shop and Steve we just did not eat much fish if it was supermarket fish...that stuff is so bad. In the Kroger I shop, the flounder is still frozen and stiff as a board. They stand it upright in the seafood case in the ice like soldiers on parade! I haven't asked my seafood guy if he can get sand dabs but I'd bet he could. Last month we had impeccable fresh shad roe...a first for Bloomngton! Tue May 29 08:00:59 -0700 2007 2605309 10285 Candy 2 2610299 I've actually gotten some decent fish in supermarkets here, but at Vons (Safeway) or Ralphs (Kroger) it's only been either the increasingly rare wild-caught salmon or cod, the latter of which seems to withstand freezing pretty well. Yes, we have plenty of higher-end fish dealers in the LA area, but we need to eat a lot more fish than we could afford to buy from those guys. At the other end of the spectrum are the Asian markets, with low prices and high turnover, but those are enough of a journey I need to devote a couple of hours to the trip, not to mention about $4 worth of gas. For the most part, I just get the frozen fish from Trader Joe's, and stick with what freezes well: cod, salmon, mahi-mahi and rockfish. The only bad fish I've gotten there was when I failed to notice the package's vacuum seal had been breached and the fish was freezer-burned, and of course I got my money back. Tue May 29 10:17:14 -0700 2007 2609812 11478 Will Owen