# Crimson snapper



## eloki (Apr 3, 2006)

Has anybody worked with crimson snapper before? I think it's known as crimson jobfish, Hawaiian pink snapper, and Opakapaka as well. 

I put it as special this week, simply pan-fried skinless fillet with a lemon-herb vinaigrette and a baby vegetable salad. However the fish becomes quite tough once cooked, and I'm pretty sure I'm not overcooking it. Bought it fresh and been in the fridge for only a couple of days. I'm no expert in seafood, can anybody point out what i'm doing wrong?


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## even stephen (Oct 10, 2005)

Treat is as you would any other snapper....of course smaller is going to 
be nicer....The flesh seems to remind me of Hog snapper.....scaled skin on filet is nice....score the skin, perhaps lightly coated with flour...pan sear cooking it almost entirely on the skin side....perhaps it was over cooked....good luck.


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## chef adam barski (Jul 16, 2009)

*Although I don't have any personal experience with the fish, I did a search for you and I can give you the information I found, whether it helps or not that's ok, I tried. Right!?

**All information courtesy of Hawaii Seafood Buyers' Guide via wikipedia search.*


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## coregonus (Aug 10, 2007)

I'm glad I had my chance to work with fresh Opakapaka few times, makes great ceviche. To avoid tough and dry product, I'd cook it with moist heat. Otherwise, it could lose moisture being frozen by any methode other than flash-freeze or defrozen too fast. If I get it right, you bought it fresh and got it frozen at your place? If your freezer works much slower than Flash, that might be the reason. Proteins, that had been frozen slowly, tend to form larger ice cristals which damage inner structure and further moisture loss at defrost.
Hope it helps


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## eloki (Apr 3, 2006)

Kept it fresh, drip tray and ice packs as usual. I'm thinking this fish is not very forgiving, even 3-4 mins too much in the oven....


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## munro epaphras (Aug 4, 2009)

They look the right shape and colour for a small mouth nanny.Ive eaten plenty of them over the years, had a few that were average, but generally there not bad tucker. Im sure you will enjoy the feed.I had a quick search and found a pic of dad holding one.

Online Schools


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

There is crimson and then there is crimson. The fish caught off coastal regeion of Hawai is not to bad because it is younger, smaller and not old. The fish caught in China sea and more towards asian shores are larger, tougher and are up to 10 years old. The fish looked more brownish then crimson. The snapper being imported from chilian coast is also a lot tougher then our red snapper.As for the Asian I would suggest poaching or steaming or a Bonn Fem type prep , it should be cooked witha lot of moisture


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## bluebag (Mar 24, 2012)

I have recently purchesed from Woolies, fish that was labelled "Crimson Snapper", product of Australia, priced at "$34.99" a kilo. I cooked it that night and it was as tough as an old Wirra, in fact I just chucked it. Last time I select Crimson Snapper. Obviously it came from China but marked as being Product of Auss, just cant trust Woolies.


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