Does anyone eat Mack tuna??

[Roo]

Wondering if anybody eats mack tuna, and if so, how do you prepare.

I got one recently and was going to keep for baits but after returning home with nothing else (got too rough) I filleted and skinned it, and cut out the darker meat on the lateral line as you would with Longtail etc. I hadn't bled it apart from the gaff shot in the gills. I tried the belly flap area as an entre'. i just cut it up into bite size bits and marinated in Braggs (a very light soy),ginger, chinese five spice and a drop of sherry. Cooked in a hot pan really quickly, I thought it was ok! a bit like steak but with a mild fishy taste.

Anyone tried it???

cheers, roo.

[Smailesy]

my mother loves them give her a snapper a jack even a red she turns her nose she loves mac tuna with no spices or hurbs it must be the irish coming out YUK

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Roo,
Not sure if you are into raw spicy fish.
Haven't tried this with mack tuna, but have done it with tailor which has a similar soft oily flesh and came out pretty good.

Usually eat it as a starter or snack before main meal.
I usually just eyeball the ingredients, but below is an approximation for one fillet off the fish you are holding.

Kinilaw (Philippines)

Chop up your skinned deboned fillet into small (approx 2cm) cubes
2 or 3 cloves garlic finely diced.
1 Tsp grated fresh ginger
1 or 2 small hot chillis finely chopped (or to taste)
1 tsp or a tad more of salt
1 tsp or a tad more of black pepper
1 white onion roughly diced or sliced into half rings
White Vinegar

Chuck all ingredients except vinegar into a stainless steel or glass bowl and mix so fish pieces are all coated. Pour vinegar into bowl until fish pieces are completely surrounded, ie just floating free of each other.
Cover in glad wrap and stick in fridge for about an hour or so.
Fish will cure in the vinegar and should turn white all the way through.

Crack an ice cold tinnie. ;)
Eat straight out of the bowl speared on a fork, or wrapped in a bit of lettuce, or on a bit of fresh bread.

Cheers
Jeff

[jaybee]

Another way is to fillet and skin, salt it down really well hang to dry for a week or two, makes great jerky and goes down well with a coldie, oh make that heaps o coldies as it makes ya thirsty. ::)
cheers
Joe

[Krazi-kev]

Seens as you never bled it................I would be reluctant to eat it raw. Tuna eaten fresh and raw makes for the BEST sashimi but bleeding it is very very important.

I think you have dome well with what you did.

I like it chopped up into smallish bite size pieces and marinated in Soy sauce and Sake and shallots for about 2 hours. Then on top of a bed of rice...........yum.......

In Japan they call this dish "maguro dom".....................very popular

like steak of the sea

[Roo]

cheers for the replies ;) lots of ideas there for future reference. I'm not sold on the sushimi thing........just not confident in eating raw fish, although if it were still quivering on the plate i'd be more likely to try it.

I'm gonna try smoking it too. If i can get it to light;D ;D ;D
no really! i'll pop it in a brown sugar and salt brine and smoke it to try that out.

thanks again.
Roo.

[wayne_cook]

no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but love yellowfin, bigeye and southern blue

[roz]

Yep,

Flour, egg & bread crumbs. Best if you bleed it first, and cut into thin fillets.

If you make the fillets too thick it can be a bit strong. Definately worth the effort.

r.

[Canoedle]

with the smoking you'd wanna get it nice and thin too, I've never tried it with any tuna, but I reckon it would be very nice as long as you can slice it very thin.

[sunny]

Yep, but there are some rules :-?

A lot of people think mack tuna is terrible and it should be used for bait. #I think they're half right, it makes great bait, but is also pretty tasty if you cook it right.

First, it must be bled and iced as soon as you catch it. #Tuna are high powered fish and they get that way by having muscles and blood that is rich in heamoglobin. #That makes the meat a lot more like beef than fish. #Mack tuna are even richer than most tuna so they have a strong taste if not bled.

Second, because they are such speedsters, mack tuna have lots of interior support such as tendons and blood cavities. #The only part I consider worth eating is the large muscle along the back that doesn't have any tendons in it. #Basically that is the portion of the fillet above the lateral line that runs down the side of the body. #You'll know if you cut too low, because your fillet will have a dark spongy mass on one side. #Cut this out, it doesn't taste good.

Of course that means you have lot of leftover tuna. #Which is just perfect as snapper bait ... #8-)

Last, I'm a great believer in making sure ingredients go together. #Dipping mack tuna in beer batter and deep frying it might make sense (maybe) but it's definitely not going to taste like snapper. #I would rather match it with stronger ingredients. #So I think your soy, ginger, etc marinade was a great idea.

This is one thing that works well with mack tuna http://www.ausfish.com.au/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1156054152

[Sportfish_5]

Times are tough when you gotta eat Mack Tuna :o ::)

[RCG008]

Done it once and will never ever do it again. Unless there is good money involved in a dare.

Bleed the fish etc and did all the obvious. Marianated heavily on a bbq. Never ever again. Even gave some to my grandfather who would eat any fish "it was the first time he turned his nose up at fish that I can remember"

Makes for an awesome bait. With Kingies coming on the bite I wish I had a frezzer full right now.

Good luck Boys! :D

[Punkin]

Done it once and will never ever do it again. Unless there is good money involved in a dare.

Bleed the fish etc and did all the obvious. Marianated heavily on a bbq. Never ever again. Even gave some to my grandfather who would eat any fish "it was the first time he turned his nose up at fish that I can remember"

Makes for an awesome bait. With Kingies coming on the bite I wish I had a frezzer full right now.

Good luck Boys! :D


In total agreement, and it'd wanna be bloody good money on the dare.

Can still taste it when i think of it 5 years down the track. Tried it fresh at the cleaning table and even backed up (against better judgement ) for a taste of some prime in the pan. My mate who wanted to try it is happy to eat long tom, catfish, or even carp...but he never ate another piece of that :-/

Quite a fan of sushimi though, and i love my Yellowfin Nummus ;)

[Sportfish_5]

Mack Tuna is right up there with Stripey Tuna :-? ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

[count_baysea]

blanch fillets in boiling water for 10 seconds helps get the strong taste out, egg, crumb.

[OISTA]

Never tried it with Macks, but if you soak fish fillets in milk overnight. The milk seems to absorb the overpowering flavors.