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Have you been just eating one kind of fish because that’s the only one you know? For you, it might be the best one because you haven’t tried other options and you just don’t know how they taste.
There are chances that you didn’t even know that over 40 different types of edible fishes exist. You may have seen some mentioned on a restaurant’s menu and you didn’t even notice them.
See, the thing is, sticking to one option is not bad at all. But you might miss out on a lot of other scrumptious food and nutrition as well. Who likes that? Do you want to try a huge variety of fish but not know where to start? Don’t worry! We have you covered.
We have done our work searching for top edible fishes that do not just look good but taste delicious so you can treat your taste buds with different types of fish.
Before diving in the sea to catch the fish let’s just first understand the types of edible fish and get a quick idea of what they are and look like.
Table of Contents
There are two types of edible fish:
Inhabiting the sea bed, this type consists of a large number of species. They are low in fat content and thus easy to digest. A white fish always has a straight tail edge. This is a way to know while making a purchase in a store.
The fishes that keep migrating have a high-fat content in their meat. Higher fat means more difficult digestion and higher chances of obesity. The blue edible fish have an arrow-shaped tail.
Now let’s talk about the edible fish you can have and might be missing out on in no specific order because they all taste different and are delectable in their own way.
Branzino is also known as European sea bass. It’s a tender, silver-skinned fish. It can be found in the native Mediterranean Sea, the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Norway to Senegal, and in the Black Sea.
It has a mild and slightly sweet taste to it which is what it’s known for. It is usually served as roasted fish with lemon in restaurants.
The cost of Branzino is $15.99 per pound and it contains 110 calories of which 0g carbs, 2.5g fat, and 21g protein. It can be cooked at home. Just pull up any recipe from the internet and you are good to go.
Pregnant women or those who are planning to have a child and children under six should avoid eating it. An alternative to that could be tuna.
Tilapia has kind of a bad reputation for containing a toxic chemical. However, the ones that are reared in good condition in farms are edible. They are from Africa and are consumed the most in the United States.
It has a mild and sweet taste to it like Branzino and is a good source of protein. Pasta and salad will make a good side dish with Tilapia.
Tilapia cost around $3 to $8 per pound if imported. However, if one purchases it directly from the United States then it can cost around $8 to $10 per pound. Like any other fish, it can be cooked at home using different recipes.
A cooked tilapia fish has 129 calories and a raw one has 107 calories.
According to health experts, one should avoid tilapia since it contains a high amount of omega-6 fatty acids which can result in health issues like inflammation.
This is a saltwater fish and can be found in the Atlantic, New England, and the Pacific. It is usually served without the head since many people find it undesirable. The taste depends on where it was caught. However, Atlantic Cod is sweet and soft whereas Pacific Cod is savory.
Usually, it has a mild and milky flavor. It is wise to get a fresh cod because a frozen one is distasteful. It goes best with French fries, peas, bacon, and tartar sauce.
Cod is an expensive fish due to its limited quantity. A fresh domestic cod fillet can cost $10.99 per pound. It can be cooked at home. The best way to cook it is by pan-searing, pan-frying, or pan-grilling it.
A cooked Atlantic cod contains 90 calories in a 3-ounce serving. Overall, the fish is healthy especially for heart and thyroid patients, however, one should not over-consume since it contains mercury as well which can cause harm to the brain.
It is found in the Southwest Atlantic, Southeast Pacific, Southeast Atlantic, Southwest Pacific, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea. They taste similar to Atlantic Cod. They usually have slightly sweet meat and taste mild and have a soft texture. It is best served as grilled, poached, or baked with tomato sauce.
Hake is an inexpensive fish and can be an alternative to cod. It contains 90 calories and can be cooked by broiling, baking, or frying it.
There are no specifications around if one should avoid hake fish or not.
Edible sea breams are found in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coastal regions of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The best sea bream species is the Mediterranean, also called Golden-headed Bream. It has a meaty texture and a delicate taste to it. To achieve the best taste, make sure it’s seasoned perfectly and roasted well.
It is an expensive fish because of its high demand as white meat fish having 96 calories. It can be baked, pan-fried, and grilled at home. Just like any other sea-fish, bream should be consumed in a moderate amount.
A very famous kind of fish known all over the world. They are found in streams leading to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Restaurants usually use the Atlantic one. It has a mild, refreshing taste to it. However, the taste is more powerful and dependent on the high-fat content of the fish.
There are many types of salmon like pink salmon, Chum salmon, and red salmon. It goes well with lemon pasta and cilantro lime rice.
Salmon is an expensive fish since the catching and farming of it is difficult as well. One pound of salmon can cost from $5 to $8.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to consuming salmon. One is that people should not eat it and the other is that they should. However, pregnant women should avoid salmon.
They are found in the temperate and tropical seas. It has a sweet taste and tastes like tuna. It’s wise to buy it fresh to avoid the fishy taste of it. The best way to cook it is to grill it or bake it in white wine. You can have it with pasta or a sandwich.
1 pound of fresh and high-quality Mackerel costs around $14.00. Mackerel is the perfect fish for baking, roasting, or barbecuing and can be stuffed. 100 grams of Mackerel contains around 305 calories.
It is a shallow water fish found in southern Iceland, western Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea. It’s firm, meaty, and slightly sweet. It tastes similar to Turbot. However, its skin is rough and has a bitter texture to it so it’s better to avoid it. It is usually served with butter and herbs.
Containing around 80 calories per 100 grams, one Brill can cost around $50.00. Due to its biological structure, Brill is excellent for pan-frying or grilling.
The Chilean Sea bass is found in the Southern Ocean and around Antarctica. Sea bass has a similar flavor to cod that is mild and slightly sweet. It is tender and moist. They are of different types like black sea bass, rock sea bass, and striped sea bass. It is served with salad.
It can cost up to $15-25 per pound depending on the country and quality. Containing 124 calories per 100 grams, SEA BASS is usually a restaurant dish due to its lengthy and expensive cooking process using white wine.
It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It is sweet and mild in flavor with a buttery texture. Cooked Yellowtail has white flesh and tastes excellent.
Yellowtail can be easily baked and cooked like tuna. Containing around 46 calories per 100 grams, Yellowtail costs around $30 per pound.
They are found in most of the oceans of the world. It is one of the most expensive fish in the market and has a delicate flavor to it. Raw tuna is mild and tender and has an oily texture. However, tuna steaks have a sweet flavor and have a meaty texture to them. It goes best with brown rice.
Tuna is found at $40 per pound while its rate can go as high as $200 depending on several factors. Containing 132 calories per 100 grams, Tuna is one of the most famous edible fish in the world.
They are found in streams and lakes. There are many different types of trout like rainbow trout, brown trout, and sea trout. All of them taste different. For example, Rainbow trout has a fish flavor and has a delicate texture to it. You can pair it up with pickled mango and roasted root vegetables.
Trout costs around $14 per pound and contains around 141 calories per 100 grams. Trout is one of my favorite fish and can be easily cooked at home.
It is a marine fish found in the Atlantic Ocean. It is also known as Gadus Pollachius. It has a mild, delicate taste with a coarse texture. They taste similar to cod but are less expensive. It is best served with salad and beans.
Costing around $4 per pound, Trout is a cheap and delicious fish containing around 140 calories per 100 grams.
It is a saltwater fish and also known as Merlangius Aeglefinus. The fish is found in the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and seas off Iceland. It has a mild flavor to it and has an oily and flaky texture. You can have it with avocado cubes and crushed garlic.
Haddock can be easily cooked in about 20-30 minutes and costs around $10 per pound. Haddock is very low in fat content and has around 180 calories per pound.
They are found in shallow waters throughout the Mediterranean and Norwegian sea. They were previously known as Psetta maxima. They have a great flavor and that’s one of the reasons they are expensive. Poached turbot with light sauce and parsley tastes best.
Starting at around $20 per pound, Turbot is one of the most expensive fish as it is only found in European waters. It has around 95 calories per 100 grams and can be cooked at home with great taste.
Basa fish are found in Southeast Asia, running in the river of Mekong and Chao Phraya. It is also known as river cobbler, Vietnamese cobbler, pangasius. They are a catfish species belonging to the family Pangasiidae. It has a mild fish flavor and a firm texture with small flakes to it. Basa is similar to cod and haddock.
Basa is one of the inexpensive fishes, starting at around $2 per pound. Rich in protein, Basa contains around 130 calories per 100 grams. It is usually cooked in fillets.
They belong to the family Clupeidae and are small oily fish. The term sardine was derived from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia where the fish is most abundant.
The taste of the sardines depends on how they are cooked. However, tinned sardines are less salty. They have a rich taste and the flesh is meaty. You can enjoy them by frying them or have them on toast or add them to salad as well.
Fresh sardines cost around $15 per pound. You can also buy smoked, canned, skinned, and even roasted sardines from your local store. It has low-fat content and contains around 90 calories per 100 grams.
They are popular in Mediterranean cuisine and are also known as Mullus Bhavearbatus. It is a species of goatfish. It is found throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and has a strong flavor. However, they are small compared to other fish.
The best time to eat them is from August to October and it is recommended to avoid it from May to July. The fish can be cooked as a whole or filleted. With 117 calories per 100 grams and very low-fat content, Red Mullet can cost up to $25-30 per pound depending on their quality.
One of the edible perch is yellow perch. They are found in drainages of Atlantic or Arctic oceans and also in the Mississippi River. It’s one of the scrumptious freshwater fish in America.
They are also known as lake perch and have a mild, sweet flavor with flaky white flesh. They can be panned, deep-fried, baked, and can be cooked with mild seasoning. Perch costs around $15-$20 per pound and contains around 120 calories per 100 grams.
They are also called yellow pike or yellow pickerel. It is native to Canada and Northern United States. The freshwater fish has a sweet flavor with a firm texture giving your mouth a buttery feel. Grilled vegetables, potatoes, pasta, and salad go well with walleye.
It is a very low-fat content fish and contains around 78 calories per 100 grams. Walleye costs around $15 per pound.
Even though catfish don’t look tempting, they taste good. The farmed catfish have a mild, sweet flavor to them. They have moist flesh and are not flaky. Potato salad, red beans, and rice, cornbread, and macaroni and cheese would go well with catfish.
It is a good source of nutrients and has high protein and low calories.
Priced at $2-$4 per pound, Catfish is one of the most commonly consumed fish around the globe. Raw fish contains around 105 calories per 100 grams.
It is a type of flatfish and is rich in micronutrients. It tastes similar to tilapia and has a mild, sweet taste to it. It’s thick and firm and pairs well with seasoning like lemon juice. You can accompany it with savory potatoes, roasted vegetables, and sauteed mushrooms.
Halibut has various prices around the world. In Canada, you’ll get it for as high as $20-$30 per pound while in the US, you might get 1 pound for just $4-6. It has 115 calories per 100 grams.
It belongs to the family Carangidae and is found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Amberjack is also known as reef donkey and is not a popular edible fish.
Greater amberjack has a buttery flavor to it. You can bake it, grill it or pan fry it as well. It costs around $6-7 per pound and contains around 120 calories per 100 grams serving.
It is a flatfish and is found in the Pacific Ocean. It is mild and sweet and is similar to Turbot. They are easy to preserve and can be cooked in a variety of ways and go well with diverse sauces. T
he head and bones of the fish are great for excellent fish stock. Dover Sole costs around $15 per pound and has high-fat content and 210 calories per 100 grams.
It is a flaky fish; however, it tastes amazing. It is a good source of nutrition and has a delicate texture to it with a mild and slightly sweet flavor. You can pair it up with grilled vegetables.
You can cook it in different ways like baking it, steaming, and pan-frying it. Flounder contains around 215 calories per 1000 grams and costs $12 per pound in the US.
Now you know some of the famous edible fish. Each of them tastes good in its own way if cooked properly. Remember, this list is not all inclusive, so there are many more fish out there for you to try.
The best tasting and the most recognized edible fish are mentioned in this article. How many are you going to try?
