NO for several reasons.
1. Slow growing fish so not a sustainable food fish
2. Very very very (did I say very) bony.
3. Even when you have skinned and boned it, it is still not a great tasting fish.
4. I don't like eating ugly looking fish

 

NO for several reasons.
1. Slow growing fish so not a sustainable food fish
2. Very very very (did I say very) bony.
3. Even when you have skinned and boned it, it is still not a great tasting fish.
4. I don't like eating ugly looking fish

Best answer yet!

 

yes cut into steaks tuna style and slow fry yum yum

 

Mr. Tom says YUM,YUM.

 

I might try it yes

 

Yup, yes to eating conger for me. part of the white fish family, par boiled and take the meat off the bones and make into fish cakes, bland like cod, so add all your own favourite seasonings etc, one bonus, the bigger the eel, the more fish cakes. Don't worry about sustainability, when conger are in the feeding mood, there's loads coming up at any one time if your on the right mark. Like the deep hole off Portland for example. The Chinese buy loads of conger and they tell us the middle cut is the best, the tail end is very bony.

 

Part of the white fish family? On yer bike

 

tryed it in the past and wouldnt bother again......nasty stuff.

 

A twenty to thirty pounder , use the section from head to vent as below the vent is very bony.

One conger should supply everybody on the boat with a few steaks for frying so no need to kill too many.

Conger is also good for currys as it holds together nicely !

 

best way to cook it is, cut it up into steaks boil it for 40 min, after that put the fish in the bin and eat the pan, fish taste like poo

 

best way to cook it is, cut it up into steaks boil it for 40 min, after that put the fish in the bin and eat the pan, fish taste like poo

Not if you learn how to cook !:laugh:

 

u need to get some proper Yorkshire coalie in you lol

 

One tried to eat me!!!......Alan

 

A very bland, tasteless fish if just boiled. Give it to a decent chef and it will be edible and possibly quite nice, but you need to add spices etc to boost the taste.

 

I've been lucky enough to eat lots of fish across the world. Conger is quite close to the bottom of the list I'm afraid. I only had it twice. The second time to check if the first time was just a one off disappointment. Full of bones and bland. Sure you can add seasoning and spices but then you don't taste the real fish and the bones don't go away.

I'm more inclined to catch jumbo pout to use the head and guts for conger bait. The pout flesh makes nice fish cakes and the heads and guts combined with conger is good sport.

Of course we all have different tastes so each to his own.

 

Must be the part of the eel between head and vent. Part boil, skin (that's the horrible smelly bit) and cut into strips, coat in breadcrumbs and/or batter and deep fry.
Very tasty. Taken from an old cook book and its called poor man's scampi!

 

Cut into steaks and cook in a curry sauce

 

We were given one a lad caught on our fishing hire-boat while camping in Newquay. It was out last day so we took it back with us, along with our mackerel.

Difficult to kill... in the end I had to pound my dive-knife through it's skull.

At about 5 foot long it took ages to skin, gut and prepare it for the freezer (well past 2am by this time).

Defrosted, it was watery, bland and very soft with loads of bones but we had loads. Trial and error proved curry was the best way to eat.

Cooked fresh it may have been Ok but it took months for us to slowly go through that lot, more to honour the fish than because we wanted to...

These days I'd put it back.

The mackerel, on the other hand. Oh! Smoked heavenly pate. My favourite fish.

I would use conger as bait for mackerel, rather than the other way around any day!

 

The last one I kept was over 80lb which I kept, thinking it would be less boney, never again. Tried one piece then struggled to find anyone who wanted any of it, it didn't help that I'd pulled several decent cod, ling and pollack from that same wreck.

As above the bait is better eating.

 

Hi, The tail is too boney, and is mainly used in soup broths, Use just the centre cut of Conger for this one, use about a 1 1/2 LB piece skinned and de-boned, slice it and cut the slices into small squares, put these into a buttered oven dish, cover them with a 1 LB of potatoes and a medium onion all peeled and thinly sliced, season with salt and black pepper, then pour a pint of milk over all and cook for 1 1/2 hours in a slow oven about 160 c gas mark 3. Another one again skin the Conger first hang it on a rope and with a razor blade carefully cut into the skin only, not the flesh and just cut around the neck, then using pliers like you would for a dogfish peel the skin off, it's hard work but well worth it. Gut it and cut the middle section into steaks rounds, 3/4 -1 " wide, the head and tail is for soup. Just steam the conger steaks for 20-30 min, remove from steamer let them rest a little then fry them in a frying pan with a little oil until well done both sides.

 

Tried once years ago - never again (I hope!)
It has a strange smell when fresh which you can still taste when cooked

 

Gordon Ramsey’s opinion on conger:

A bit sweary that video so be careful

 

Conger soup is a a traditional local “delicacy”. It’s an acquired taste is all I will say. Granny used to cook it up when I brought her one back now and then...stank her house out for days on end...she’d eat the leftovers for breakfast by which time the fat had congealed on the top ...
:frown::roflpuke:
Steaks of it braised in the oven are ok but I wouldn’t go past ok...

 

Keep rubbing salt into the skin and rinsing until all the slime is gone. Then cut into steaks, brine and then hot smoke. One of the nicest, richest fish to eat. Fed it to 30 people at a party. They all loved it, but I didn’t tell them what it was until all had been eaten.

 

Conger in a parcel. About 1 lb of skinned conger steaks or for four people one steak each. Make a court-bouillon, 1/4 pint of water, juice of half of lemon, 2 tbs of tomato purée, 3 small dried red chillies crushed with their seeds or 2 tsp of hot red chilli sauce, 3 cloves of garlic crushed, 1 tbs of parsley finely chopped, 1 tsp of cumin and a good pinch of salt. Place all these ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil and then blend using a stick blender or food processor to a puréed mixture. Place the conger steaks individually on a square of aluminum cooking foil, with a knob of butter or a drizzle of olive oil, divide the court-bouillon between the steaks and seal the steaks in the foil, place all in a oven proof dish and cook in a pre heated oven for 25 minuets at 220 degrees c gas mark 7. Serve individual at the table, or you could place all the steaks and sauce in an oven proof dish and cover with foil.

 

I could eat almost anything when a kid, my mam loved making conger eel soup, the most vile tasting food that's ever passed my lips.

Tasted it the once but the house stunk of it every now and then.