I went to a Sealord promo night last night and it was all about Hoki.

They noticed that people didnt have such a great attitude towards the fish, preferring to opt for the more expensive options.
I use Hoki alot firstly, because its so reasonable and secondly because it tastes great.
I know it is a flaky fish and can break up but once you get used to it - its a super fish to use weekly.

They also mentioned that Kiwis didnt eat fish anywhere near the amount of times per week we should - twice at least especially considering we are surrounded by oceans.

So do you use Hoki? How often do you eat fish?

Vanessa

If my other half didn't go fishing and we were fortunate to have fresh fish, I wouldn't eat fish - it is too expensive. In NZ we are surrounded by ocean and yet it is cheaper to buy Vietnamese farmed fish then our own. We do buy Salmon however. But that doesn't answer your questions does it

We have fish once a week - never use Hoki, as his main catch is Snapper. I don't think my particular fisherman has ever brought home Hoki actually?

I don't buy hoki, somehow I don't trust it to be fresh. We eat fish about once a week: trevally, salmon, monkfish, gurnard, snapper, brill, squid, prawns. Apart from salmon we buy whole fish. We would like to have it more often but it is a long trek to the various fish markets.

Tell me more about hoki!

Thats interesting - I think its a deep sea fish? Maybe thats why.
Hoki is about $10 per kg so its totally affordable - much cheaper than chicken as well.
I totally rate it and if you dont buy it, you should give it ago.
Irene - if I had a fisherman hubby, I would be pretty happy with his catch and wouldnt be spending my $$$ on any additional fish.

Apparently twice per week is the recommendation - canned counts as well.
Vanessa

Hoki - I was told the fish doesnt look that nice and the fillets are large - thick at one end and thin at the other. You cut it up into chunks and can pan fry or drop into a curry. Its a white fish and can be flaky with a very mild taste.
I love it!
Also a very reasonable price!
Vanessa

Sometimes I use it to make fish cakes. I don't dislike it but prefer other varieties, unfortunately, they are more expensive. I still try and have at least one fish meal each week.

TPANDAV

I don't buy hoki, somehow I don't trust it to be fresh.

I was also at the sealord promo and others had the same view - according to the sealord rep the boats are coming in every 24hrs , 7 days a week. She did however say the best time to eat it is during the HOKI season which is

late-June to mid-September peaking in July and August.

Here is a recipe to start you off

2 fillets Hoki
2 tablespoons capers
12 olives
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
fresh lemon juice

Heat a little butter or olive oil in a fry pan and cook hoki until golden. Set aside

Add a little more oil or butter to the pan then add capers, olives and cherry tomatoes and stir until heated through.

Add a good squeeze of lemon juice and serve over the hoki.

(SOURCE: SEALORD Supper Club)

I don't mind the Sealords crumbed hoki filets at a pinch. Much better than Bird's Eye which is all crumb and no hoki.

I try to keep to the fish varieties in the green and orange (most sustainable) sections of the Forest and Bird 'Best fish guide' (on their website) Hoki is a bit further down the list, near the top of the red (non-sustainable) section. It's definitely cheaper than anything else at our local fishmongers, but they also sell kingfish and trevally, which are much more sustainable, less expensive than anything else except hoki, and in my opinion, greatly under-rated.

Thanks Karena for a timely reminder about sustainability. My first choice of fish is trevally, for flavour, texture and price, also sustainability. I have to confess to buying snapper occasionally, because it is sometimes the freshest at the Auckland fish market, but we do make a real effort to buy sustainably fished species most of the time. I do buy snapper to cook for ex-pat New Zealanders who are longing to eat it when back in NZ on holiday.

I have only just discovered that it is a beautiful eating fish.I always believed it was an inferior choice but after buying it on special for $8.49 and finding the fish to be a lovely flavour i am sold on it now.IngridO has a great recipe thanks any other ideas on how to cook with it please?

Like Karena, I try to buy fish towards the top of the forest and bird sustainability chart when I do buy fish so that would normally rule out Hoki for me.
We try hard to eat fish every couple of weeks but honestly it is SO expensive.
Blue cod at over $30 a kg - often closer to $40 a kg is one of the most sustainable fish. Yes we are an island nation and surrounded by water, so my question would be - why so pricy? Because of having to manage our fish stocks and having strict quota?
Buying fish for my family is a very expensive exercise. I'm not prepared to buy a cheaper fish that I would feel guilty about eating when I know our fish stocks need to be managed for the future. So I have nothing against Hoki itself - I am just concerned from a sustainability point of view.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2014 09:53PM by Sunday.

Fresh fish is an absolute treat meal in my house. We do try to include it in our menu once a fortnight if it is on special. I will buy what I really like rather than what is deemed "sustainable". If I am paying hard earned money for fish I will not be persuaded to purchase something just because it is considered the correct thing to do. Tarakihi, Gurnard or Schnapper in that order are my preferred choices. Hoki does not even raise a blip on my radar. Ghastly looking and falls to bits no matter how gently cooked. So no, Hoki is never on my shopping list.

I am with Sunday here. We love fish but I do have environmental concerns - I think with Hoki it can be bottom trawled so causes seabed damage. It is not the fish stocks itself more the method of fishing.

It is a hard one!

We had orange roughy fillets last night and they were lovely. I have bought hoki and though not my favorite, did enjoy it for a change, mostly when I buy fish I buy blue cod and other times eat what we catch, elephant fish,rig, cod, trout, salmon or other varieties that have the miss fortune to grab our hooks. We love flounders too, especially fresh from the net.

Joy, unfortunately Orange Roughy is one of the "worst choice" species available in NZ. Forest & Bird has downloadable mobile apps for The Best Fish Guide; I have one on my phone and it is a very useful reference. It lists species in order of best to worst, and gives sustainable alternatives to the worst choice species. You can download it from their site:

[www.forestandbird.org.nz]

I only ever buy hoki if I want to make fish pie. It's ok hidden among all the veges and potatoes. It's too fragile to cook whole. I found it very frustrating trying to egg and crumb or batter it.

Ingrid - that recipe sounds delicious! LOVE capers.

I am going to try it - with the next fish I buy.

Buy HOKI - its $8.90 at Pak N Save this week - you really cant go wrong. I just made a curried fish pie and it was delicious. The tip is just pop the fish in, in big chunks at the last minute and dont stir too much.
Vanessa

I like to bake hoki in the oven to avoid it breaking up. I have one recipe where you press a dukkah mixture on top and another where you put a chess and herb breadcrumb mix on - simple to do and it rings the changes a bit.

Its value for money alright PennyG and a KG goes a long way!
Vanessa

I too will not eat hoki. There are two reasons.

1. I do not like the fish
2. The way it is harvested


Article

Hoki fishery doesn't deserve its "sustainability tick" [www.forestandbird.org.nz]

Here is forest and Birds Best Fish Guide 2013-14 [www.forestandbird.org.nz]