Swai

Has anyone had any experience with this fish?  I've read a little about it and it's at a really inexpensive price at one of our local stores, frankly the name kind of freaks me out. Is it any good?
Thanks!
Brenda

It's a fish similiar to catfish that comes from thr rivers of Southeast Asia---and we all know how clean and pollution- free the rivers of Asia are!!!!
I don't think I'll be trying it, thank you.
 
Here's the info:
"Swai, along with basa and tra, two related varieties also appearing at more and more stores, belong to what’s called the Pangasius family and they’re similar in character to catfish. In fact, the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, which has an authoritative site that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the fish that end up on our dinner plates, describes swai as a river-farmed catfish, sometimes simply referred to in the U.S. only as catfish (be sure to look for country of origin labeling at the fish counter to determine whether your catfish is from the Mekong Delta or the Mississippi Delta).
Swai is a white-flesh fish (typically available in fillet form) with a sweet mild, taste and light flaky texture that can be broiled, grilled, or coating with bread crumbs and fried, according to experts. It can be prepared simply, but also takes well to sauces. A 3.5-ounce serving of plain fish contains around 90 calories, 4 grams of fat (1.5 saturated), 45 grams of cholesterol and 50 milligrams of sodium. Not bad.

I eat it all the time, I get it for $2.80lb, has a very slight catfish taste, but with a sauce you don't notice it. Prepare in similar ways that you would sole. Makes good fish & chips too.
I had some last night, dredged in seasoned flour, egg wash, pan fried w/ lemon butter & capers. Cheap & tasty.
Now if I could afford the dover sole in the fish case at $7 lb, I would be buying that, or halibut for $16, local rock cod for $6

Basa/Pangasius/Swai -- the same fish. A catfish from Asia. Eat it at your risk.

I have other things to worry about killing me well before the swai will.

chefbuba

I eat it all the time, I get it for $2.80lb, has a very slight catfish taste, but with a sauce you don't notice it. Prepare in similar ways that you would sole. Makes good fish & chips too.
I had some last night, dredged in seasoned flour, egg wash, pan fried w/ lemon butter & capers. Cheap & tasty.
Now if I could afford the dover sole in the fish case at $7 lb, I would be buying that, or halibut for $16, local rock cod for $6

Where would you like us to send the flowers?
First Mourner: "Doesn't he look good?"
Second Mourner: That's becuse he ate fish from Asia most of his life----, I think.
                            Gives him a nice glow"

I passed on it.  The packages that were thawed(3 to a package) scared me.  The top fillet didn't look too bad but the ones underneath were transparent almost.  They had large packages for $9.99 all frozen but I thought if I didn't like it I didn't want to be stuck with it.  I chose frozen grouper instead, that turned out to be a not so good choice either.  As they say, you get what you pay for.....

There are a whole lot of varieties of grouper , some taste a lot better than others, none of them will hurt you because the are all wild caught. The problem is they are all sold simply as grouper. Only in Florida have I sometimes found them labeled as to their exact variety - but then you have to know which is most likely to be to your taste. Usually the more expensive, the better tasting, but not necessarily...
 
We avoid all the shrimp, talapia, skai, etc. from Asia, preferring to pay extra for quality fish at our fishmongers. Also, we should all keep in mind that in most fileted and steak portioned fish a pound will easily serve three people along with generous sides, etc, so $15 a pound is really not all that extravagant.
 
Cheers, John 
 
 

As I consult with for a lot of processors here in Thailand, it should be mentioned in this thread the the culprit in most of the procurement of suspect type farmed fish are the US retailers themselves that select the supplier for these products.  I know first hand that many of the high quality processed seafood and fresh fish suppliers are not regular customers for the US retailers.  Simply put these US retailers push price so hard on these quality suppliers that ultimately they refuse the business.  These suppliers instead are being used by western european and especially Japanese retailers, who prefer quality over price.  If you want to stop the influx of poor quality farmed fish in the US you need only go as far as the retailer and demand they use higher quality suppliers....of coarse you will then pay more which is something that consumers in the US do not seem to support, so it becomes a viscous circle, and thus supply and demand is the winner.  I know first hand these purchasing agents for large US retailers, all Americans by the way are the scum of the earth when it comes to selecting suppliers.  They'll switch to a substandard supplier in a minute to get a promotion and save their company 3 cents on a particular item.  You want better quality, ask for it, demand it from whom you are buying it from.  The irony is your the ones buying the stuff, not the folks in Asia and Europe who want the quality over the price.