Thread: Blue Runner Taste Test ???

So how many of you have actually eaten and enjoyed blue runner?
Heading down again soon and want to "taste" so less-desirable species. Might even try remora???
Thanks,
Toby

remora will eat.

I've been eating blue runner ("hardtails") for over 40 years.
They do have a wide strip of red meat that needs trimming, so there's not a big yield for the most common 3/4 pounders,
but at a pound and up they are good table fare IMHO.

I like to dredge the fillets (each fish makes 4 pieces) through a little olive oil and sprinkle with a dash of salt & pepper or Cavenders's Greek Seasonings and panfry til golden brown (the edges will just be a little crispy).

Originally Posted by tmgrimm3

So how many of you have actually eaten and enjoyed blue runner?
Heading down again soon and want to "taste" so less-desirable species. Might even try remora???
Thanks,
Toby

I like them. It's firm and there's no bad aftertaste. Like with most saltwater fish, you want to cut out the dark lateral line completely. I just fry 'em in either corn meal or a prepared breading. I fried up remora fillets with speckled trout and Spanish mackerel and served them to my friends. They liked the remora best, the speckled trout next and Spanish mackerel the least. Remora was firm, white meat, very tasty! You just need to catch pretty big ones, because they don't have very much meat relative to their size. I also enjoy sailcats and bluefish, but again -- you have to remove every speck of dark lateral line. With sailcats, there's a noticeable aftertaste, otherwise.

Hardtail is pretty good. Sounds like Mr. Pier pounder and I clean them the same. I usually just coat them in lemon juice and olive oil then add a little Tony's before putting them on the grill

I filet them and just save the back strip and trim off the dark mid strip. Good baked or battered and fried. Belly strip too small to fool with.

I grilled some and thought they were fine. Cleaned and cooked properly, there arent many fish out there that arent worth trying.

Last time down, our blind taste test went - shark, whiting, pompano, jack, flounder, sailcat. None was left afterwards.

My wife does volunteer work two half days a week and often eats in town. I get excited when she comes home and says wouldn't you like to have fish for dinner because she is taking the night off from the kitchen. I have two freezers in the garage, one for fish and one for everything else. It is always a joy to open the fish freezer and struggle with the decision to choose which fish for dinner. I keep a wide variety of fish because there are so many different ways to prepare them that I never get bored. Most weeks I end up eating fish 3 or 4 times until I get to the beach every fall. Then for the month I spend there I eat fish every day and often twice a day. Just to change up I eat shrimp or crab once or twice a week that month.

So far I have tried about every kind of fish you can get from the pier. I tend to like the fish that are less desirable to other fishermen. For instance Small Jack's, Remora, Bluefish and Sail Cats are my targeted species when I am there. But I have to say that croaker is my favorite.

I e eaten hardtails (bluerunner) more than once. First task is catch them big enough to fillet. Next step, when you do fillet them, cut out the red meat. Then Fry them up for fish tacos. I do the same with blues.