Species sheet · The Edible River
Pangasius
The aquarium shark that became Friday's fillet.
- Pan-fried in a breadcrumb or spice crust
- Braised in a Vietnamese caramel kho
- Baked under herbs and lemon
- Scientific name
- Pangasianodon hypophthalmus
- In the water
- A catfish of the great rivers of Southeast Asia, the Mekong and Chao Phraya, farmed by the million in the ponds and cages of the Vietnamese delta.
- Season & buying
- Year-round, farmed, almost always as frozen fillets; look for a responsible-farming label.
- Common length
- ~80 cm
- How to identify it
- Streamlined blue-grey body, pale belly
Two slender barbels and an adipose fin
Juveniles striped in iridescent silver, hence the name iridescent shark
On the plate
White, tender, neutral flesh, slightly sweet, with no bones.
Avoid: Cooking it still coated in frost: thaw fully and pat dry, or the fillet boils in its own water.
As a tiny fish it is sold in pet shops as the iridescent shark; many buyers have no idea it grows past a metre and migrates hundreds of kilometres up the Mekong.
In Umay recipes
One Umay recipe calls for it.
