Eating halibut

[Aces]

So I don't know what I'm missing. After so many years of trying to catch halibut, I finally got how to catch them pretty consistently now. Because I was always told it's one of the best eating fish on the west coast (and one of the most expensive), I thought I would be blown away by its flavour. I tried cooking it so many different ways, baking, pan-fried, deep fried, you name it, I tried it. I just can't get myself to like the fish because it's always tough, not crazy tough but tough like chicken breast. The flavour isn't very strong either and I did try cooking it very lightly to prevent overcooking it, which helped a bit but still I didn't like it that much. Lingcod and rockfish however, no matter how I cook it it always seems to turn out amazing, soft flaky tender meat and the flavour is also more pronounced. WHAT AM I MISSING???

Whoever told you they were the best eating fish wasn’t telling the truth. I give most of mine away

 

[fish brain]

I find that fresh un frozen halibut can be moist and sweet as long as you don't over cook it. once it's frozen I do as others are mentioning, or give it away to friends and family that don't know any better.

 

[Whole in the Water]

The bigger the halibut the older, dryer, tougher and wormier they get. I prefer lingcod and greenling over halibut any day. Moister, softer, tiny bit more flavour IMO.

 

[Newf]

If i could target larger P-cod consistently, I'd be all over them.

Maybe another unpopular opinion, but I also think moisteness can go too far. Here it goes... I don't like black cod

Agree on the P-cod. Only thing better than that is A-cod.

 

[big rock]

We cube the halibut up and marinate 3 to 4 hrs in olive oil, sea salt (Maldon salt) and pepper. Wrap it in foil on bbq cook slow. But agree I would take ling or rocky over halibut every time. I guess I’m going to have to try P-cod next

 

[Deepaaaar]

Agree on the P-cod. Only thing better than that is A-cod.

Username checks out! Haha

 

[sly_karma]

We (my family) don’t even fish for halibut anymore, nobody likes it!
I enjoy sitting on anchor and whacking big flattys, but of course that’s not aloud anymore
Used to give away halibut to friends mostly.

Lings are top tier, Copper rockfish second and third is the “bomber”Dusky rockfish or whatever the real name is, nice moist tasty meat!

I never much liked the whole anchoring/circle hook thing, too passive and a lot of time invested. Now that we can't keep anything of size anyway, I'd much rather jig for chickens and have some fun. Over the right terrain, you can potentially get ling and hali on the same drift. Efficient!

 

[Stizzla]

For any of you that don’t like theirs, I’ll take it!

 

[Samnjoe]

For any of you that don’t like theirs, I’ll take it!

Me too. I encourage people to stop fishing it altogether. More quota for us guys that like.

 

[Samnjoe]

Cut fillets about 1/2" thick. Coat in beaten egg and panko. Pan fry till just light brown. Toasted quality bun mayo raw onion lettuce tomato avocado pickled jalapenos and a little **** sauce. Halibut burger. If you don't like that stick to hooved animals.

 

[Samnjoe]

Come on!! They blanked out c&ck sauce. OK siracha.

 

[trophywife]

not all hali are the same.. i find the greener the meat looks at the processing table, the better the fat content/texture and taste. even the smaller fish we have been forced to keep can look chalky and malnourished. these are horrible no matter the size.

 

[RBL]

I like the cheeks the best. It has a little bit different texture. Similar to ling cod I prefer the smaller fillets to the big ones. Haibut is good for fish tacos

 

[Tips Up]

Far too much talk about ling cod here. Those words used to be forbidden
I still enjoy halibut although it was more fun when you were able to catch bigger fish. Somehow it is fun harpooning a fish.
Lots of good halibut recipes out there. As noted just don't over cook it. Deep Fried, panko fried, tacos, garlic/basil/butter, wrapped in bacon like a scallop and soaked in hawaiian teriyaki... nice in a sauce to keep moist. Tip for panko... I like to pan fry the panko then use with egg wash as normal but instead of frying put in the oven. Less greasy and can be cooked less. Trick is to brown and cool the panko first because you won't get that from the oven without over cooking.

 

[wildmanyeah]

The good thing about halibut is it takes on the flavor of what ever you give it, kids like it more then salmon as it does not have any fish flavor too it. I like the texture tho of cod better and why I prefer cod fish and chips better then halibut.

 

[A-a-Ron]

Yeah most people say I’m crazy that I prefer ling over Hali… but seems like the fishermen agree with me.
We got 3 this year on my one Hali trip, 80-85cm and they were very tasty, but I can imagine they toughen up the bigger they get. Still not as good as a 10-15lb ling tho.

 

[sly_karma]

As requested, I took ling with me to a mate's place last night, to be served as fish and chips along with his hali. General preference for the cod, although he does a solid job on the hali. I enjoyed both.

 

[Stizzla]

All this talk about halibut so I had to make some tonight for dinner.
Egg bath and WW panko with secret seasonings.
Shallow fried. Effing delicious! 10/10.
Cod does get an 11/10 but I can’t say anything bad about the hali.

 

[chris73]

We had a blind eat-off with beer battered hali vs ling vs rockfish this summer. Hali came out on top closely followed by rockfish and ling a third. I guess tastes do differ!

 

[scott craven]

Here's what the the tempura battered halibut
should look like...
Light and crispy