Perils of Swai Labeling

Well, the swai was lovely. In the end, after I'd thawed and examined a strange new fish in our household, since it seemed more like a catfish texture, I ditched the five spice idea and went for a southern fried type of feel. (Cookings all about flexibility, right?). Had I had the forethought to check out my Fish Forever book by Johnson, I would have already been prepared for all of this.

End result - tasty, tasty fish. Mmm...swai.

So, with a protein shopping trip in mind, off I hiked to Safeway to check out their other oddball named creature of the sea - Barramundi. I love Safeway for their wide variety of fishy options where you don't have to commit to a five pound bag. Everything's nicely laid out in two fillet packages. Well labeled, two fillet packages.

Responsible person that I'm trying to be (people who know me just snickered), I'm cross referencing everything with my Monterey Bay Seafood Watch card. And what do I find out? That lovely swai from the night before? Farm raised in Vietnam? The intriging barramundi? Same thing. Farm raised in Asia. Which, since most asian fish farms destroy local marshes, etc to create fish farm habitat, puts them clearly in my avoid list on the Seafood Watch card. Shrimp? The same. What was I left with after my frustrating trip through the seafood market of Safeway? Cod. What on Earth am I supposed to do with cod?

Last night for dinner, I ate a frozen pizza.

Today, back to the recipe books (cod...) and back to a grocery store. Somewhere there has to be some decent American farm raised barramundi or Artic char.

Happy munchings! Avoid those frozen pizzas!