The popular fish tacos at Anthony’s
Fishette are just as likely to be made
with sustainable basa as the more
traditional cod.
native species while its own population
numbers boom. Asian carp can be
astounding jumpers, too, and have been
known to break the jaws of fishermen who
get in their way.
So serious is the threat of this fish that the
Obama administration pronounced John
Goss the Asian carp czar, with $78 million
to control them. Federal agencies have
tried everything from poisoning the fish
with rotenone to installing electric barriers
to prevent the fish from finding its way into
the Great Lakes.
overcome the boning issue, chefs will
have a tasty, clean, sustainable fish to
offer customers. Working closely with
the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries, Parola has renamed the fish
“silverfin,” and is trying to get funding for
a processing plant to take the fish from
whole to finished product. “The meat is
extraordinary,” he says. “It’s between a
scallop and crabmeat.”
at an affordable price, we’ll consider that,”
says Andrew Aiello-Hauser, director of
marketing for Anthony’s Fish Grotto.
Foss thinks the solution to this invasive
species will instead be found on our dinner
plates. While the chef was at Lockwood
Restaurant & Bar in Chicago, he would serve
it as an amuse-bouche or as an appetizer he
dubbed Shanghai Bass Ceviche.
Whether or not this fish will make it to
market in a substantial way remains to
be seen, but finding a remedy for this
invasive-species problem is something the
seafood industry will be watching.
Basa, and its close cousin, swai—both are
in the pangasius family—is a river catfish
farmed primarily in Vietnam. In 2009,
pangasius broke into the National Fisheries
Institute’s Top 10 Consumed Seafoods list
for the first time. While it’s not specified on
the menu, basa has been used at Anthony’s
Fishette for a year and a half.
“It had great texture. It was moist and
mild in flavor, not fishy at all,” says Foss.
“But the problem is, the bone structure is
unusual—you can’t get a steak out of it.”
While wholesale costs of the fish were low
(about $1 a pound), it became an expensive
undertaking, says Foss. “Because of the
bone structure, you’d lose 85%-90% of
the product, and the price would skyrocket
to about $15 a pound. When [customers]
saw Asian carp next to salmon, halibut and
scallops, it didn’t jump off the page as the
item they’re going to choose.”
IS BASA BETTER?
Anthony’s Fish Grotto in San Diego is an
old-school seafood spot. Family-owned
since 1946, it has long been known for
serving traditional seafood dishes such
as chowders, fish and chips and combo
plates. What’s decidedly not old school is
the restaurant’s decision to try basa as
an alternative fish for fish tacos and fish
and chips. Anthony’s Fishette, the walk-up
counter next to the downtown waterfront
restaurant, serves as the test location.
“It’s always a balance between introducing
new things and meeting the needs of old
favorites,” says Aiello-Hauser. “We need
to focus on sustainable fish like basa or
tilapia. I think it’s probably our job to help
educate our guests on new options and the
facts behind the fish we serve. So far, we’ve
never had anyone say it should be cod, or
mention that they notice the difference.”
Fellow Asian carp evangelist, Baton
Rouge, La.-based chef Philippe Parola,
CEO of Chef Parola Enterprises and
Partran LLC, says if the industry can
While the American catfish farmers have
been pushing to keep pangasius out of the
U.S. market, calling foul on the pricing of
imported farmed-raised fish, groups such
as Seafood Watch and the Environmental
Defense Fund (EDF) give the fish a yellow
rating, which means it’s a good alternative.
“We know the taste profile of cod, which is
what we’ve traditionally used, but if another
fish has that taste profile, and we can get it
Tim Fitzgerald, a marine scientist with the
EDF, says, “It’s a white fish alternative. It’s
