Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Changi Fishery: Sashimi doesn't get fresher than this!

There is something very romantic about Kelongs.

I guess if you were a child growing up in the 70's, you will still remember seeing the Kelongs offshore especially when you travel to Changi beach for that family day out at the beach. Nowadays, the traditional Kelongs built on stilts have all but disappeared, so my kids have no idea what a Kelong is. But that doesn't mean there are no Kelongs in Singapore. In fact, the AVA has been encouraging aquaculture in Singapore, and Kelongs are being leased out to private enterprises. The reason that you don't realize that there are still Kelongs around is that since they are no longer built on stilts, it is not as easy to spot them.

If you go to Changi and look towards Pulau Ubin, you can actually see these Kelongs. They not only catch fish from the wild, but they are also rearing fish, prawns and even lobsters.

I happened to chance upon Changi Fishery while surfing online and was fascinated by the fact that we actually still have Kelongs in Singapore. So I made a date with Rosemary, the lady who runs the Kelong to bring my family to experience what life is like on a floating fish farm. Changi Fishery is a 5 minute boat ride from the Changi Sailing Club and is open to the public for educational tours and hosting makan sessions.



One of the fishes that are being reared at Changi Fishery is the Cobia which the AVA has identified as one of six species of fish to be reared for food. The Cobia is also known as Black Kingfish, Ling and Lemonfish and has been is touted to be the next big thing after Salmon. They grow really quickly and within 8 to 9 months they can grow to a size that is ready for the table. Salmons in contrast can take up to three years. In the US, they have successfully reared these fish in tanks and have started marketing the meat to the consumers. Earlier this year, Jamie Oliver was featured in US Iron Chef where he pitted his skills against Mario Battali in "Battle Cobia" where both chefs had to creat dishes using the Cobia. Guess who won?

I was told that the Cobia is slowly making its way into the Japanese Sushi Market where the fish is known as Sugi. So we decided to try some really fresh Sugi Sashimi. Our Cobia was fished out of the water and filleted rather unceremoniously by our Indian Sushi Chef (Not). Actually, we were not well prepared for a meal there or we would have brought our own filleting knife, wasabi and soy sauce.

If you never tasted Cobia before, well, it tastes like chicken. Kidding lah. The fish looks very similar to the more familiar Kanpachi/Hamachi/Hiramasa and tastes like it. The flesh is white and translucent and has a hint of citrus which might be why it is also known as Lemonfish. Information on Sugi is still quite sparse on the net but I found this really helpful website which lists the different fish used for sushi. The fish is so new that it hasn't been listed yet, but the very helpful author did respond to my email query on Cobia, by saying that:
Most cobia sold as sushi is in lower-end establishments, where it is offered under false names, most commonly masquerading as kanpachi or hiramasa. After several glasses of sake, a forgiving person could almost mistake very high-quality cobia for a mediocre piece of amberjack (kanpachi, etc.) Almost.
The Cobia is also slowly making its way into our Sushi restaurants as well as other eating establishments here. I think it won't be too long before the fish will be seen swimming in the tanks ready for our Cze Char Chefs to turn it into a meal for your family.



In case you are after some fresh seafood for the weekend, you can actually place your orders on Friday with Changi Fishery and pick up your seafood on Saturday afternoons at the Changi Sailing Club. The various Kelongs there have actually formed a conglomerate, so you are able to get quite a variety of seafood ranging from prawns to lobsters, seabass, groupers and so on. If you are feeling more adventurous, you can even organize for a group to visit the Kelong and have dinner there.

More information can be found at the Changi Fishery website at www.changifishery.com. Contact numbers: 96150215, 61001638

30 comments:

liverpool1965 said...

any over night stays/fishing allowed ieat?

ieat said...

I am sure it can be arranged. Thinking about doing some overnight fishing?

The water is quite rich with wild fish. There's seabass, selah, etc. They catch them with nets, and keep them in the water. But I guess it is still more fun to dangle a line to see what you can catch.

Kathleen said...

Hello,
I'm a student currently at NUS doing a research paper on food tourism and food blogging. Would you mind if I sent a short questionnaire to you?

Please contact me at my gmail address, or at u0609559[at]nus.edu.sg if you can help.

Thanks very much in advance!
Kathleen

iJeff said...

Thanks for sharing, ieat. Look like a nice and relaxing place to spend a weekend. May be we should organise a makan session there.

BTW, nice pics. Did you take them with your new 5Dm2?

ieat said...

Hi Kathleen, please email me at leslie.tay@gmail.com.

ijeff, yes I was thinking of organizing a makan session there. Maybe can get Francis of Cafe de Hong Kong to come along so that he can cook for us? They have plenty of different types of seafood there but no chef. They can of course provide the cooking service but it would be more fun if we did it ourselves.

I was eyeing their lobster. Grilled lobster with garlic butter or even lobster Thermidor is very tempting. Can even get some XO and get some Prawns drunk.

No, the photos are taken with my Canon 450D. I will post some initial pics in the forum. Fantastic camera! Still waiting to get hold of my 24-70mm L lens. Incidentally, that is exactly the same equipment that Wahcow uses.

wahcow said...

no need to ask get someone to cook for us i think...such fresh stuff is best sashimi, steamed or just BBQ...

and of course can do a photography session at the same time !! will have nice sunrise and sunset all within singapore......go ask jino leh

i cannot wait.....sounds good !

sumosumo said...

eh.. singapore waters....
so near the shippping channel... clean or not the water...? especially north of sg... the water smells of diesel as so many boats pass by...

adriane said...

If I am not wrong, staying overnight is not allowed. In fact visits were once banned too by AVA citing safety reasons. Hence many kelong tours or fishing trips were done across the border. A bit silly in my opinion. U can do it over the line 400 metres away in Johor but not in Singapore. I dont know if the overnight ban still apply. Anyone can clarify?

Adriane

wahcow said...

if these fishes are for local comsumption, i think they should pass all AVA tests....should be ok ? no ?

i have heard similar things about no overnight stay at the kelongs...a tv program once stated that only those working on the kelong can stay overnight, but if we go early enough for the sunrise.....might be ok

am also interested to know besides lobsters, fishes,.....got oyster or not ?

ieat said...

I think overnight stay is really only for those who want to fish. If not it might get really boring for those who want to sleep. Also very uncomfortable. Actually if you ask me, one evening there is good enough.

Juschev said...

Actually you can only be in the Kelong if you are licensed to work there so I also duno how come public access is allowed.

Er and I find Cobia abit too oily for my preference leh.

jems said...

wah ieat you went without us :P so you must go organize again~! can't wait :)

dead said...

regarding THAT iron chef match up, Jamie Oliver just cannot suit that kind of stress enviroment lah, kudos to Batali for withstanding those distraction haressment during that match up :P

ieat said...

Any idea where we can catch that episode?

Anonymous said...

Hi ieat,

You can do a search on youtube for any of the Iron Chef episodes. If not, drop me an email and I will gladly send u a copy.

tibiit@hotmail.com

Serene

snake86 said...

http://www.modernfeed.com/watchnow/79415/

here you go, pretty enjoyable match up i would say

Dead=snake86 btw haha

snake86 said...

oh forgot to add, the way they use top grade materials there really makes me drool man

Damien said...

We do have a local oyster farm called Lighthouse Seafarms, located 200m north of Pulau Tekong.

Have tried their Pacific oysters before at an event at Swissotel Stanford last year.

Was really surprised that these local oysters were pretty meaty and juicy.

Here's their URL: http://lighthouseseafarms.com/index.html

ieat said...

Yes I know about them. Planning a post soon

Anonymous said...

You actually trust AVA?

Becklee said...

A friend of mine stayed at one of those Kelongs, I believe it was a two nights three days sort of thing, full board. It was at Batam. It was a completely new experience.

ieat said...

Any reason why we should not trust AVA?

MD said...

Did my work attachment at Lighthouse Farm. Apart from the novelty effect, the oysters are the usual Pacific Oysters that have been genetically modified so that they aren't able to reproduce, hence preserving their optimum taste throughout the year. Taste wise they aren't anything special or different from the rest.

wahcow said...

AVA ? trust them ? mooohahah...i think i am just appreciative that someone is trying to ensure that the food we eat is of a certain hygiene/quality :)

john said...

hi do we need to pay a fee when visiting the kelong ??

ieat said...

Yes of course.

Charlene said...

how much do you pay to visit the kelong??

ieat said...

I think you have to call Rosemary as the prices might have changed.

Aint |ife g®and ? said...

my company organised a trip to Rosemary's kelong and it was really a great experience; the educational fish farm tour and also the great fresh seafood we had!

i'd like to organise a similar trip but this time with my friends. so i'm wondering if there are similar kelongs like Rosemary's? as i've already been to Rosemary's, so i think something similar would be great!

thanks in advance!

ieat said...

I think there are some in Malaysia but I don't know them.

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