Canned Fish Etiquette?

Discussion in 'Food & Drinks' started by Frank Sanoica, Apr 11, 2016.

  1. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    My wife detests the bones in typical canned Salmon. So, we buy small cans (5-1/2 oz., I think they are), of Chicken of the Sea Salmon, boneless AND skinless (the skin troubles her also). The contents' appearance is quite like the OP I started showing the advertisement for tuna. No surprise, but it IS boneless and skinless.

    Long ago, my Mother often served canned Salmon, and encouraged me to eat the bones, which I did without a second thought. Which I still do, same stipulation. This irks my wife, who detests the bones. Thus, if I open a big can, the now, what are they, 14.5 ounces, originally 16, then 15, I carefully pick out the bones, eat them, and the skin, which I will eat mixed in later. She takes half the can and makes something of her own preference, usually a salad of some kind. ME? Ha! I cut up about 8 ounces of fresh vegetables, green or yellow squash, onion, carrots, broccoli, or cauliflower, toss that into about a cupful of water, start it boiling, add 1/2 teaspoon No Salt, a bit of powdered garlic, shake of pepper, and 2 handsfull of whole wheat pasta, let 'er boil 15 minutes, then add the salmon and 1/2 jar of any of the "white" pasta sauces, like, tonight, Ragu "4-cheese", keep cooking until 20 minutes total time, or adequate thickness of the mix, whichever happens first.
    So, do you eat the Salmon bones?? Frank
     
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  2. Steve North

    Steve North Supreme Member
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    No bones and No skin, but I do eat canned salmon..
    Living up north, just on top of Lake Huron, I also have the opportunity to eat freshly caught salmon which I have often caught it myself.. I make fillets without the skin and make it various ways..
    Canned salmon is great and easy to use.. I make latkes (fritters) and I also make a casserole as well as a salad..
     
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  3. Mari North

    Mari North Veteran Member
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    I guess the better question for me, Frank, would be do I eat salmon. :) I know the nutrition in it is high but for some reason I can't get used to the flavor... never could. When I do buy it, I get those new little flat packs of it to put in a salad or something.

    But anyhow, to answer what you asked, I'd always heard that the bones are edible but I could never get past the mental block of not wanting to eat bones so I always picked them out. Plus, I do believe they have additional nutritional value... is it calcium? Yeah, that makes sense, I guess, but I could be wrong.

    Strange, too... I love seafood and am okay with most fish. It's just salmon my tummy doesn't care for. One of my favorite foods ever is bacon wrapped scallops. Love oysters. For fish I usually do Tilapia or haddock.
     
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  4. Sheldon Scott

    Sheldon Scott Supreme Member
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    When I make fish patties or loaf, I use the whole thing bones, skin and all. I use canned salmon or mackerel interchangeably.
     
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    Last edited: Apr 11, 2016
  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I love canned salmon, @Frank Sanoica and my mom always said to eat the bones because they were good for me.
    I also happily ate the skin, and loved that part the best.
    We had a business in our town (which was near a large lake) that smoked and sold bluebacks, a type of kokanee, which is simply a land-locked sockeye salmon. Those smoked salmon were the most delicious fish ever, and thus came my love of salmon.

    I also think that we were encouraged to eat more things that get wasted now.
    I remember my mom telling me to eat the little gristle ends of the chicken bones because they were good for me, and now we know through studies that eating those bits of gristle and chicken cartilege helps to keep our cartilege healthy.
    This is a similar idea to @Lara Moss thread about making bone broth, which also helps to pack in the extra nutrients that keep our bones and joints healthy and working right.
    Many people use gelatin to help keep their joints limber, and since gelatin is also made from the knuckles and hooves of animals, it probably does add some of the necesssary things we need to keep our joints healthy.
     
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    Last edited: Apr 11, 2016
  6. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    Like @Mari North, I'm not much on the flavor of salmon, for some reason, whether canned or fresh. I do eat canned sardines, smelt and mackerel, and when I have those, I do eat the bones. I've also heard that the calcium in the bones is good to eat, and have done so since I was young.
     
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  7. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I like sardines, too, and certainly don't try to take the bones out of those. Another canned fish favorite is the kippersnacks, which have that delightful smokey kind of taste that I really like.
    I think that I just like most smoked fish that I have tried, although I am not impressed with many smoked meats otherwise.
    My favorite fish , far and beyond any others though, is definitely salmon, fresh, canned, smoked ot otherwise.
    I used to have on of the Little Chief electric smokers, and when i would go fishing, then I smoked fish if I had caught enough to smoke. I also bought the smelt when it was running, and smoked those.
    When we go to Walmart, I am going to get another bag of the smoke-brine salt that is used to brine the fish or meat before smoking it.
    Bobby has a smoker with his BBQ, and we can buy some salmon when it is on sale and smoke it.
     
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  8. Mari North

    Mari North Veteran Member
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    I don't think I've ever had a sardine in my life. o_O I got in my head early on that they're for cooking and pizza and not just to eat out of the can. How would ya'll describe the flavor? (And no, I don't really want to buy some to find out... if they taste like a dirty gym sock, I'll save my money.) ;)
     
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  9. Bonnie Thomas

    Bonnie Thomas Veteran Member
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    I have too. I buy canned sardines, and don't mind the taste. I usually get them in soybean oil w/hot green chilies.
     
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  10. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I think that you are confusing sardines with anchovies, @Mari North ! ! They are quite different, and anchovies are definitely NOT for eating out of the can, they are horribly salty.
    Both Bobby and I just love anchovies on pizza, but it is one of those things where a tiny bit goes a l-o-n-g ways, and just a few itty-bitty pieces on a large pizza is plenty and adds a delicious taste.
    Too many, and it is inedible.
    Sardines, on the other hand, are almost never used on a pizza, or at least I have never heard of that. They are little fish, 3-4' long, uually packed in oil, but sometimes in mustard or in hot sauce.
    We either eat them plain, or put them on a sandwich, and some people like them with crackers. They are an excellent source of the Omega 3 oils that come from seafood, so very healthy if you like them.
     
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  11. Mari North

    Mari North Veteran Member
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    :D Yep... right you are, @Yvonne Smith . Proving that these are things I don't eat. :) There are recipes for sardine pizzas of various kinds, but I'm not going to try it. In any case, yes, I confused them, yes, there are sardine pizza recipes, but no, I still won't try them. :p

    Here's a recipe if you're in the mood. !
    http://leitesculinaria.com/6765/recipes-sardine-pizza.html
     
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  12. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    My father liked sardines on his pizza, Mari. I like sardines and eat them occasionally.
     
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  13. Mari North

    Mari North Veteran Member
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    Sardines come in sauces like mustard and BBQ yes, @Chrissy Page ? I've just never bought them, but I've seen them unless that's still something different. There's also canned octopus on the same shelf... and calamari, but I've been too chicken to try that, too... other things, yes, and I've eaten shark, but ... maybe I should try some of these canned fish options.
     
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  14. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    My favorites are smoked oysters and smoked mussels.

    Sardines come in many different varieties, oil, sauces, water, skinless, boneless, no salt added...
     
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  15. Mari North

    Mari North Veteran Member
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    I've wanted to try the oysters... I really like oysters but was never sure if they'd taste the same smoked. I mostly like the unhealthier version of deep fried :oops: but a good oyster stew is nice. Would I recognize the smoked variety as oysters?
     
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