In essence - I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.
uli,
Jan 7, 4:34pm
bump for another year of buying fresh wild caught banana prawns. Currently on secial at most New Worlds and Countdowns. Even our local Pak'n'Save had some last week!
herself,
Jan 7, 4:35pm
Thank you davidt4 for that link.What an informative article!I will never again be tempted by the supermarkets low cost frozen prawns from Asia.I have emailed this article to all my foodie friends. Am I right in thinking that Australian prawns will be an ok option!
elliehen,
Jan 7, 4:54pm
Basa flourished briefly in local fish'n chip shops until an article appeared on their origin. 'farmed in the Mekong Delta - the toilet bowl of Asia'.Then shops started putting up signs saying 'No Basa sold here', although the supermarkets still seemed to be doing a thriving trade.
uli,
Jan 7, 6:30pm
Basa is still regularly sold in woolworths supermarkets. I always talk to the people behind the counter about it - and they get quite worried now to have to sell it . imagine if the staff refuses to sell the stuff - wouldn't that be great!
Chinese cooked prawn/shrimp today $8.20 per Kg at our local Pak'n'Save. Forget it! How could they have been raised to sell at that price - in poly ponds!
beaker59,
Jan 7, 9:18pm
From what I've heard about Basa no one would go back a second time to get it. If I buy Fish and chips I always ask now and if they say its Basa (only once) I turn around and walk out.
Beautiful day for a sail today Uli I took the boat out for an hour sail this afternoon after a maintenance session 15Kn warm wind light chop put up all the sail and had a blast around the bay. We've caught a few fish lately too smoked snapper salad for lunch and a big John Dory for dinner last night who in this country needs fish from the mekong river!
socram,
Jan 7, 9:39pm
Now you know why Delking prawns fell over!
Talking to the owner, I complimented him on the always tasty prawns. (We bought regularly.)He explained that it was because they only sold 'seafood'.I wasn't too sure what he meant at the time - until he explained.
He then went on to say that many/most imported prawns were not sea-food at all, and despite lobbying our previous government pretty hard, they were far more interested in a free trade deal with China, than ensuring imported prawns were labelled correctly.
Another honest top quality NZ business that fell over, with a consequent drop in quality for consumers through a misguided trade policy.
Unfortunately beaker59, some of us are not fishermen and have to rely on the retail trade.
Aussie Prawns straight off the boats at Surfers, just next to Seaworld, about $25AUD a kilo but boy, they are nice!Worked out at $1 a prawn.
lyl_guy,
Jan 7, 10:02pm
Oh NO!I have a bag of cooked prawns in the freezer, the distributor is "sea cuisine" in CHCH NZ, but it's a "product of Thailand"!Only good for the bin!
lyl_guy,
Jan 7, 10:07pm
Hmmm. bugger, might have to give them to the fisherman of the family. I had a funny feeling when I bought them (from Mad Butcher) that they were too cheap to be true.
karenz,
Jan 7, 10:59pm
You do see frozen banana prawns from Australia in supermarkets sometimes, they had them at Pak N Save Petone yesterday, they don't compare to tiger prawns flavourwise though, given they could be landed in NZ fresh and sold fresh on the same day it is a shame more varieties of Australian prawns are not available here, but I guess it would be a very expensive exercise, the Asian ones are probably frozen an source and shipped over in bulk.
uli,
Jan 7, 11:02pm
Bloody tease that you are beaker59 - one day I will catch up with you in Jaffa land :) Still haven't got enough bend in the knee to go into the dinghy - and without going into the dinghy I cannot go onto the boat . *sighs*
paddypf,
Jan 8, 1:47am
Wow thanks for the article Davidt4 I'm glad I didn't buy any and will certainly never be tempted after reading that. I see in the local countdown flyer that they will have Aussie prawns for $21-79 next week so will grab some of those.
lyl_guy,
Jan 8, 2:28am
Hi Uli. no I haven't bought prawns like that before. I used them ONCE in a stirfry, but never again. Was telling my partner about it and he was horrified. we'll be getting fresh seafood from Seamart from now on, lol!
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