Bleach taste in fish, fish and chips

amazing_grace, May 20, 9:15pm
x1
I was reading the catfish thread, and it got me thinkingabout fish and chips. I dont eat them very often, and when I do, sometimes there is a bleachy -chloriney taste. I have bought some frozen fish from Alaska, and it sometimes has this taste too? does anyone know, is it something to do with the way the fish is frozen, or processed, or is it just some reaction with my particular body?

eljayv, May 20, 9:18pm
I don't like terakihi because unless it is very fresh I think it has that chemicalchlorine taste and smell but prefer gurnard or snapper anyway

grannypam, May 20, 9:21pm
we used to get Lemon Fish with this taint...

Then we found that its something in the fish itself that causes it if the filleter nicks the wrong place. .

Well thats how I remember it . . lol

cookessentials, May 20, 9:25pm
dog fish tends to have an ammonia taste according to Google, so perhaps ask what sort of fish it was you were served

purplegoanna, May 20, 9:29pm
itll be dogfish that you were served, its the cheapest option for them to buy & sell as your battered fish at a takeaways unless you request snapper, gurnard etc... the amonia taste occurs naturally in the fish (i used to work in a takeaways) its best to always pay the extra for something nicer...

uli, May 20, 11:06pm
Most fish fillets are bleached. For appearance as much as to make them odourless when they sit in the shop for days or even weeks ...

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/266753139/Food_Bleacher_CH
LORINE_DIOXIDE_.html

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/273458892/bleaching_powder
.html

maxwell.inc, May 20, 11:15pm
Its also why they are tasteless

If you must eat it, pay for a nicer fish... I'd steer well clear of dog fish (aka shark) it has one of the highest mercury counts out there, its a ONCE in a while fish (once a month at most) and many people eat it weekly *bleh*

purplegoanna, May 20, 11:33pm
my fav is gurnard... . so worth the extra dollar or two. . mindyou im a hot dog & crabstick girl so im covered... lol

uli, May 21, 1:10am
Wow that is amazing - you fork out extra dollars for gurnard ...
then turn around and eat crab sticks LOL :)

purplegoanna, May 21, 2:44am
i know bizarre aye... . . i have weird food habits, you wanna see what i put my condensed milk homemade salad dressing on! fishpie! cornbeef pie! roast potatoes! chips! sausages in bread! to name a few

maxwell.inc, May 21, 2:47am
hehe Poor PG she cant be saved *pokes her in the puku and runs off*

yachtie3, May 21, 2:48am
I thought the ammonia taste came thru when the fish was getting old? ?

buzzy110, May 21, 5:30am
It's shark ladies. All sharks, once dead, start to emit ammonia. Lemon fish is also shark. Most takeaways use shark. Ask for another fish. Personally I don't eat shark meat at all because I never know who it has been eating (indirectly or directly). Same reason why I'd never eat wild game shot in a cemetery.

rog.e, May 21, 6:07am
The ammonia smell of decomposing fish is not the same as the Chlorine (bleach) smell of food washed in strong solitions of Chlorine.

Thames water smells and tastes strongly of Chlorine often, so familiar with at one.
All my drinking and so on water is filyered to get it passable.

I threw a tun a fruit salad, made for w well-known brand, in the Phillipines. It was so strongly Chlorinated in the syrup syrup it was inedible with taste and smell of bleach.
No bugs but...
V

purplegoanna, May 21, 6:31am
while we're on the subject i cant eat KFC coleslaw due to being able to taste chlorine!

annie.nz, May 21, 7:09am
Yup. Sharks (of which dogfish are a variety) retain urea in their bodies as part of their fluid balance mechanism. Once the shark dies, the urea degrades to ammonia, which you can smell.

rainrain1, May 21, 7:25am
Find a fresh fish source, ie, boat, man, water, fish, pan, gob, no other way to eat it

uli, May 21, 7:27am
I would think that ammonia and chlorine smell can be easily distinguished from each other with a normal nose?

And you would be surprised how much food gets "washed" in chlorine solutions to keep "the bugs" at bay - in clear speak: make slightly rotten stuff "edible" again ...

vampire10, May 22, 2:50am
i catch so many gurnard its not funny and i just biff em back bugger all meat on them. do not wash fish in fresh water this gives it a bad taste as well

buzzy110, May 22, 4:33am
Same here vampire. Always bring home a big bucket of clean sea water with us when we go fishing. Drives DHcrazy having to remember to pack the bucket and then not empty it when we land but his naggy old wife insists and the seafood always tastes better for being washed in it rather than all the flavour washed away with fresh water.

I always insist that each fish that we land is killed immediately as well and is put on ice (Making room for the ice is another chore my DH hates), but once again the quality of the fish meat is streets ahead of friend's who let their fish flap about in the sun at the back of their boat till they die and don't take ice with them.

winnie15, May 22, 4:36am
very interesting subject and enough to put me off eating bought fish!

vampire10, May 23, 10:18pm
do not eat marlin or tuna in any large quantity high mercury content
shark has that as well. fish being near shark on the shops platters can often give the other fish a taste of bleach. the salt sea ice is the best for keeping caught fish in, but its a hassle to have one chilly bin for it aswe always get heaps of snapper 18kingfish 1 or 2 kahawai 4 or 5 etc and no room left in the ice after that. . the salt ice sure makes a difference to the taste :)

purplegoanna, Jun 1, 11:55pm
yip we're salt ice fans... . it keeps the fish and ice so much fresher for longer than normal ice