Baked Basa Fish

We enjoy a fish dinner at least once a week, usually on Fridays but we often have fish a couple of times a week.  Fresh caught local fish here is bluegill, bass, perch, pickerel and whitefish.  Since I like to fish and we have friends who are very generous with their catch, we eat a lot of local fresh-water fish here but more salt-water fish at our vacation home.  One of the local grocery stores has a few rather good sales on various fish fillets.  I took advantage of the sales to stock up on wild salmon as well as try a couple of fish we haven't had before.  One of those fish was basa.

Basa fish (Pangasius bocourti) is a type of catfish native to southeastern Asia (Mekong River Delta in Vietnam and Chao Phraya basin in Thailand).  The package I bought was farm raised rather than wild.  The fillets were good sized enough for one serving each.

I baked the basa fish seasoned with lemon pepper.  Sides included roasted mini red potatoes and steamed asparagus.  The basa fish had a light, clean flavour.  My husband really liked it however I found the texture to be a bit mushier than I like in fish.

The package cost me $5 for two fillets, enough for a meal for two.  In comparison to chicken, pork and ground beef the basa fish at $2.50 per serving is a bit higher priced but it is a healthier meat choice.  Fish is lower in calories and fat especially in comparison to red meat.  Fish also has a short cook time making it a frugal meat choice.  In this respect, even though fish costs a bit more per serving, it is still an excellent value for your food dollar.

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