Cream Dory Fillet from Vietnam (EU Approved)

Tasting Notes from The Curator

Cream dory is a delicious fish with delicate white flesh and a firm, flaky texture. It has a mild, slightly sweet flavor, and can be served sautéed, baked, steamed, poached, or even coated in breadcrumbs and fried.

This particular Cream Dory has a max 20% glazing and is certified antibiotics free, making it a safe choice for any eater.

Preparations

There are many ways to prepare Cream Dory but most of the recipes involve minimal ingredients to highlight its succulent taste.

You may choose to steam your Cream Dory Fillets this way:

• Rub salt and pepper to your fillets
• Place in steamer and add some ginger slices on top.
• Steam your fish for 10 minutes or until your fish is cooked.
• Prepare a soy sauce mixture of light soy sauce, oyster sauce, grated ginger and some water. Adding honey or brown sugar is optional. Bring to a boil in saucepan and set aside.
• Plate your fish and drizzle your soy sauce mixture.
• Garnish with spring onions.

You may also opt to bake your Cream Dory Fillets, just the way our Curator likes them:

• Preheat your oven to 200°C / 390°F
• Apply salt and pepper to your fillets.
• Place on your baking dish with some sliced garlic and lemon wedges
• Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. If you’re feeling indulgent, you can add a dollop of butter.
• Cover your baking dish with aluminum foil to keep the heat in.
• Bake for 10 minutes or until fish is cooked.
• Remove from oven and transfer fish to serving plates.
• Garnish with parsley.

The Truth Behind the Cream Dory Fish

Up to this day the controversy behind Cream Dory remains particularly strong, especially in terms of views from the West. Pangasius or Cream Dory, during its peak years, were already being exported all over the world. In the US it was the 10th most popular imported seafood item being consumed with imports coming at a whopping 90% a year. In Europe, this fish takes 60-70%. Consumers are eating about 6 ounces of Pangasius per year and demand for this moderately priced selection is expected to continue to increase. It is a primary example of the increasing demand and dependence on aquaculture or farm raised seafood products.

At the height of its popularity, the local catfish producers, most specifically in the US, felt the threat. Some say, the anti-cream dory movement began due to clamor from said fish farmers. This began the scrutiny directed towards Vietnam in the way the fish is being raised, farmed and processed for selling to consumers. To this day, these criticisms still exist and Vietnam continues to fight these allegations.

The Vietnam fish industry maintains that they follow strict International food safety standards with the fish they export by monitoring: (1) fish feed (consisting of fish powder, squid powder, rice, soy beans, amino acids, minerals and vitamins), (2) fish farm cleanliness ( sterilization of area and regular water tests to ensure the correct PH levels of water) and (3) fish processing/plant safety ( fish cleaning to packaging matches export standards).

Its been more than a decade since the very first series of negative reports against this fish have surfaced and today, the industry–especially big exporters who are EU-approved claim that foreign media reports ignore the care taken by them to produce and farm fish cleanly.

Cream Dory has a long way before 100% convincing everyone but with the help of food regulations being publicized as well as documentaries and reports being made more available online today, the fish is starting to see some positive reception and its demand continues to be at a steadfast in the food industry.

Storage Instructions

These fillets will arrive to you frozen. They must be stored in the freezer indefinitely. For best flavor, cook your frozen Cream Dory no later than 4 months as flavor will begin to lessen after lengthy storage. Once cooked, consume within 3 to 4 days.