Our annual survey of seafood in Southeast Louisiana this year counts down the 33 best seafood species enjoyed in our restaurants. Redfish is very popular among fishermen, but wild-caught Louisiana redfish is off the menu for restaurants and fish houses by law. Fortunately, there's a lot of farm-raised redfish now, which is why they are so often the fish of the day in restaurants.
<h2><strong>#16: Redfish</strong></h2>
Redfish is probably the most versatile of local fish. There's not a single preparation I can think of that I'd hesitate to apply to it. It's an exceptional fish for the grill. It's the best local fish of all for poaching. Poached redfish with hollandaise is almost too good in comparison with its simplicity. The same process with more flavorings in the poaching liquid results in redfish courtbouillon, a greatly neglected classic. Pan-sauteed dishes with redfish are terrific. Baked redfish--whether done with the whole fish or fillets, with or without toppings--is superb. Smoked redfish is wonderful. About the only thing I wouldn't do with redfish is serve it raw. (The fish is prone to parasitical worms which are harmless to humans, but they're still disgusting if you see one moving.) The most important thing to know about redfish when cooking it is to eliminate any of the dark blood lines that you might find. As usual, the smaller ones are better than the big ones. Inferior Alternatives. When ordering redfish in a restaurant, ascertain whether it is actually redfish. Black drum is a close cousin and not an unacceptable substitute. Another is a Central American fish called corvina, which even experts find difficult to distinguish from true redfish except that it has no black spot on the tail. The problem with corvina is that, like most warm-water fish, it's highly perishable, and it has a way of being a little over the hill when served. We might still have wild redfish were it not for the blackened redfish craze in the 1980s. To satisfy the demand, the commercial fishermen went nuts, even hauling in bull redfish. Those are the big, unappetizing breeding stock. The practice decimated the species' ability to reproduce. That problem has abated, and the numbers suggest that redfish could be fished commercially again--but the law hasn't changed. Yet. Write your legislator. Good Alternative. Black drum is a close relative of redfish, and fair game for commercial fish wholesalers and restaurants. Especially when caught young, black drum are delicious, attractive in color and texture, and have most of the aspects of redfish.