Sand Bass
The several varieties of Sand Bass available in Southern California, Barred (P.nebulifer), Spotted (P. maculatofasciatus), Goldspotted (P. auroguttatus), are all about the same as far as cooking is concerned. The Goldspotted is the only one much seen in markets, and is fished mainly in the Gulf of California. It can grow to 28 inches and 6 pounds, but the photo specimen was 20 inches long and weighed a hair over 4 pounds 6 ounces. Photo © cg1
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The flesh of Sand Bass is mild and light, and contains very little oil. A darker layer right under the skin has a stronger taste but not by a lot.
The flesh is very tender and doesn't hold up well to wet cooking. It tends to break apart at random points rather than neatly along the flake margins. It is not so good for steaming or baking because the skin becomes very soft and may not look good. It is best to either dust fillets with flour and pan fry them, or cut them in half crosswise and poach them gently.
Scales: This fish is completely covered with small scales that have fairly good adhesion. They take some energy to scrape off and fly around quite a bit. Some will capsize rather than scrape off so some patches will have to be shaved off with the sharp edge of the knife.
Cleaning: Cleaning presents no unusual problems, but you will want to use kitchen shears to cut out the gill arches. The swim bladder and other membranes pull rather hard so a sturdy pair of long nose pliers is very helpful.
Fillet: Sand Bass isn't a hard fish to fillet. It's best to start by removing the head, then cut through the skin to outline the fillet top and bottom. Working from head to tail cut down to the backbone, then go over the backbone at the tail and work forward until you get to the body cavity. Cut the ribs from the backbone with kitchen shears and pull them from the fillet with long nose pliers - they pull easily taking little flesh. There are nasty centerline spines for the length of the body cavity. Feel for them and pull them out straight forward.
Yield: This is a big headed fish so yield is not spectacular, but better than many fish. A 4 pound 6 ounce fish yielded 2 pounds 5/8 ounce of skin-on fillet (47%) and 1 pound 14-1/2 ounces skin-off (44%). With the thin skirt removed it was 1 pound 11-1/2 ounces (39%). A smaller fish will yield a little lower
Skin: The skin has no strong or "off" taste, but it shrinks sharply when heated - then becomes very soft. When frying, it must be well coated with flour or it will stick to the pan and make a mess. The skin can be removed easily using the standard long knife and cutting board Method.
Stock: The heads, bones and fins, simmered gently for 30 minutes, make a stock that is serviceable but a bit stronger in flavor than some stock fish.
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