Frying or cooking Thornback Ray

Lads,

I've caught a few Raymondos over the years but have never gotten the courage up to try and ate one.
It's the same with conger and LSDs.
Anywho. Can anyone tell me, firstly if thornback raymonds can be eaten and if so, how are they cooked?

[JOHN1]

skin them first,then cut wing into handy portions then just plain and simply shallow fry in oil of your choice after a light covering of seasoned flower, you wont look back

Last edited by JOHN1 on Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Skin the wings, cut them to size and fry in pan.

do they have to be soaked for a while , any time ive come across them there was always a really strong smell of p:ss or amoenia of the flesh

Soaking definitely helps, as does salting them for half an hour after skinning them, then washing it off before cooking. The salt draws off any unwanted flavours etc

Apparently a lot of species excrete through the skin as they have no specific organ for that purpose. I'll never forget the first (and only) time I tried to cook untreated dogfish - fried wet nappies!

Guy i know lived in Oz for bout 10 years. He said they ate shark steaks. They used to soak them overnight in water with either lemon juice or vinegar in it to help remove the amonia. He said they tasted lovely !

my thornback recipie.

step 1- find thornback
step 2- kill thornback, this can be done in a number of ways, a good blow to the head with a rock, make sure you give it rapid fire blows because their hardy mofo's, bout 10 does the trick. personal favorite of mine is a fast and penetrative stab to the face, twist the blade upon entry and kill em good and proper.
step 3- wing the thorback, this is were the meat is, and just like samson with no hair, thornbacks without wings cant swim away.
step 4- de-skin wings, easier said than done, razor sharp blade just under the epi dermis and gently flick away at the flesh unti all the skin is gone.
step 5- soak thornback, the longer the soak the milder the taste, change water regulary enough, bout 1 days of soaking does me fine. youl notice the water will get less slimy as the ammonia leaks out of the flesh.
step 6- cook thornaback, i like baked, grilled or fried plain, with a drizzle of lemon juice, their probably my favourite fish to eat. the taste is gorgeous.

Im a virgin poster looking to get to the '3 posts' so I can once again look at the fishing reports so if this reads or comes out funny thats the why .

I'm not great at cooking ray but I did get hammered by my 11 year old who pulled out 2 that were around 7 lb last week in Dublin bay . I had lsd and a small huss .Great to see the fish there so early and augurs well for some big enough to keep over the summer.

Doggies are superb in a curry very meaty fish another youll not look back with once done that way or in a slow cook stew

Some good recipes there guys.
So what one of you are going to admit to wearing a pinny when you's are cooking then?

ha surfrod...... as been from dublin i have eaten alot of ray, cant get any nicer fish to eat... live in the west now so hum,hum loads of ray....
the best way to do ray wing is first catch the ray,, kill it,,, dewing it,, deskin it,,, and freeze it for a couple of days the kill the anominia all thornie have this... once this is done follow this.....
1.. cup of plain flower..
2..add pinch of salt and pepper..
3.. small drop of vingear..
4.. the secert of a crispy batter,,,, sparkling water...
5.. mix untill creamy but leave a few little lumps thats whats give the batter the extra crunch...

cooking..
1.. dust the wing in flour and brush it off.
2.. dip in batter..
3. make sure oil is hot..
4.. put wing into oil and leave do not stir or move until the wing comes to the top of the oil...
5.. chips,, batch loaf,, loads of butter and ray wings,,,,,hum.hum.hum......
dont forget to put on your pinny man.......
if

Some good recipes there guys.
So what one of you are going to admit to wearing a pinny when you's are cooking then?

i do paula.... .... and not ashamed to say it ........

Some good recipes there guys.
So what one of you are going to admit to wearing a pinny when you's are cooking then?

whats a pinny paula???

Hi Lads

If shallow frying ray or any other fish make sure that your pan is absolutely sizzing hot, best way to check this is before you place the fish in the pan lightly dip an edge of the fish in if it sizzels your bang on if not do not place the fish in yet, also a lot of the time fish is over done, fish will generally be done in a couple of minutes and if on the bone there should be a bit of colour left in the bone i find if around the bone and the bone itself are pure white you are over done,,,,, just my two pence,,, tried Ray once a few years back but made a huge mistake, never soaked it not good

Regards

ok guys here's my imput

The smell of amonia is strongest on male fish (claspers) i have eaten loads of them and they are one of my favourit fish to eat.
As said before cut the wings of and then skin them this can be done two ways either with a sharp knife and a cloth (to pull on the skin) or put them in boiling water for about 2 minutes then the skin comes off a lot easier. I have also left the skin on and fryed them without flour and they came out lovely

To cook simply shallow fry them with a coating of seasond flower ......... then enjoy.

Some good recipes there guys.
So what one of you are going to admit to wearing a pinny when you's are cooking then?

i do paula.... .... and not ashamed to say it ........

That's what I like to see, a man who isn't afraid to show his Feminine side

Some good recipes there guys.
So what one of you are going to admit to wearing a pinny when you's are cooking then?

whats a pinny paula???

Don't pretend you don't know, I bet you have a secret stash of them hidden away in your kitchen

i love them as sushi especially dipped in batter and fried!!!

Was told years ago by a chef that the ammonia is in the skin so if you skin straight away and then salt for 24 hours all that foul taste is gone.
Then cook whatever way you prefer.
Batter and shallow fry for me.

Yappo

Must say lads, those recipes really make me hungry for a bit of r'mundo wings now.

I've never even tasted ray before!

However, I never will.
Any recipe that takes over a DAY to complete, isn't for me.

Keep up the fine work though