Yellow Fish

What to know about yellow fish before it is listed

This page covers yellow fish and how to choose a dried fish with a vague name. Page through grocers' lists of Nigerian dried fish and you meet catfish (eja aro), asa (eja osan), abo, panla, bonga (shawa), mangala, mackerel and barracuda. Yellow fish is not among them. This page does not name a species, size or flavor for it, or say that it is a single species. In English, the words may simply describe a fish that looks yellow, and one seller may use them for one fish while another uses them for something else. The full description and ingredients (species, cut, how it was dried or smoked) will be shown on this page when the product is listed, and until then the label on the pack is the authority.

Until then, the useful thing to offer is a way of deciding, so that a pack labeled yellow fish, or any dried fish with an unclear name, does not catch you out.

What color tells you about smoked fish

The advice note on hot smoking from the Torry Research Station, published by the FAO, describes a properly smoked fish as dark to golden brown with a silky sheen on the skin. So a golden or yellowish tone is a normal result of smoke, and it says nothing about the species. Color is still worth reading for what it can reveal about condition. White fuzz or powdery patches may be mould. The same note warns that smoked fish packed while still warm grows moulds readily, so a bag with moisture inside it is a bad sign, and so is any sour, musty or ammonia-like smell.

Choose by the job, not by the name

When the name does not help, ask what you want the fish to do in the pot. The pages below describe fish whose names are better documented. None of them is a claim that it is the same fish as yellow fish.

Okra soup as a test pot for an unfamiliar fish

Okra soup is a good place to try something new, because a published recipe treats the protein as flexible. That recipe uses four deboned smoked mackerel fillets. The pepper base cooks for ten minutes with water, then the fish simmers for ten more minutes with ground crayfish before prawns go in. The recipe says a pot made only with smoked fish is the affordable version, and that beef, goat or mixed seafood can be added to make it richer. It serves eight.

For a test, replace only part of the fish. Soak a piece of the unfamiliar fish, break it up, remove bones and add it at the same stage as the recipe's fish. After ten minutes, taste the broth. If the fish tastes strong, leave it at one piece. If it disappears, add another next time. Season at the end. The recipe serves okra soup with eba, amala or pounded yam, and our pounded yam flour covers that last choice.

A shelf check for a dried fish with no clear name

• Dryness. The pieces should feel dry all through, with no tackiness or damp spots.
• Whole or crumbled. A bag of crumbs and dust gives you less to cook with and is harder to check for bones.
• Smell. Smoky and fishy is expected. Sour, musty or ammonia-like is not.
• Label. Look for an English name, a Latin name, where the fish was caught, how it was processed and a best-before date.
• Weight. Ask for grams or ounces, not a piece count.

Anyone with a fish allergy should read the label on every dried fish product and on seasoning blends, since fish is one of the nine major allergens on the US list.

Five questions to put to any seller of yellow fish

A vague name deserves a specific question, and a good seller will not mind being asked. Ask what the English name of the fish is and whether the Latin name is known. Ask whether it was smoked, sun-dried, air-dried or salted, because that decides how long it needs to soak. Ask which country or water it came from. Ask whether the fish is sold whole or cut, and request a photo of an actual piece, with a coin or a hand beside it for scale. If the answers are all "that is what we call it", you know how much weight the name can carry. If they are specific, write them down, because next time you can ask for the same fish by its details rather than by a nickname.

Is it salted? Taste before you season

Some dried fish is salt-treated, and one West African cooking guide says the soaking water for Ghanaian koobi has to be changed once or twice. A salty first soak means the water should be changed before a second one. Whatever the fish, taste the pot before adding salt or seasoning cubes.

Hearing if yellow fish is listed

Yellow fish is a coming-soon page, not a product you can order. Add your email to the Notify me form here and you will hear if that changes; no date has been set. The whole category is in one place if you want to compare names meanwhile.