I bought some yesterday and I was going to cook it this evening but when I looked for recipes on Google, I found health warnings not to eat it and counterclaims about a campaign to spread smear stories about it.

Has anyone here tried it? I don't want to throw it in the bin if it's okay but on the other hand I'm not sure how much of a risk it is. Any advice?

Are any of the health claims from anyone reputable? Have you got links?

I've been eating it for years.
I buy the basa fillets in Tesco.
It wouldn't be sold here if it was so bad.

Pretty much what I thought but the 'warnings' were pretty horrible. Industrial waste contamination and claims of d&v after eating it. But I bought mine in Tesco and you're right, if it was so bad it wouldn't be sold in UK supermarkets.

The link I first used was on the Jamie Oliver Forums and there was lots of bad stuff about the fish but in one of the posts I found this - There's a lot of negativity on the web regarding Vietnamese River Cobbler, much of which seems to come from a site which is totally unverified ("Don't Eat this fish" - dietmindspirit.org). It's sensationalist and unreferenced, it's translated from an also unsubstatiated French article, it's only goal is to stop the reader from eating it, not presenting hard-facts. After checking a few more of the google results, it looks like the poster got it right and all the scare stories originate from the same source.

I bought it, we're eating it tonight with tomatoes, garlic and red peppers.

Yes, don't believe everything you read on the internet. Aspartame springs to mind.

I did buy it once.......(from Tesco)

There was just something really horrible about it.......taste, texture or both........and I chucked it in the bin after one mouthful



this was the fillet stuff

I think they hide it away in fish pies and things where it's mixed up and adds some padding to other fish but on it's own on a plate it was horrible

Dip in lemon juice, coat with a breadcrumb/lemon pepper/grated parmesan/chopped parsley mixture. Oven bake. Yum.

When we were in Vietnam my OH was advised not to eat it by a Vietnamese friend, said they never touch it.
It is also called Panga and is a type of catfish.

I tried it that way and it was very yummy indeed. Thank you.

It's not the strongest flavoured fish so I can do a lot of experimenting with toppings and coatings. We liked the texture very much.

So it's a river fish. That explains a lot; I bought some once for my dad from Aldi, as he likes fish and doesn't mind experimenting. He said it was horrible and told me not to get him any more.

I've had it once before. It was the Basa fillets from one of the supermarkets.

I used it as a replacement for cod/haddock in battered fish n chips.


Threw up a couple of hours later.

I've seen reports on it before (possibly on Food Unwrapped) and it's a river fish which lives in drity environments.


Never bothered with it since. If I want a white fish I stick to cod or haddock and maybe seabass/bream once in a while.

Two words:
Horse meat 😜

There's nothing actually wrong with horse meat if it originates from an officially approved slaughter house.

The problem with basa is that I'm sure most people think it's a sea fish caught in British waters. 'Rock salmon' sold in fish and chip shops can be anything from dogfish to bull huss or even conger eel.

The thing is, if the horse meat had been sold as horse meat and not beef then there wouldn't have been any problem. As this fish is clearly labelled as to what it is people have a choice whether to eat it or not. Catfish is one of the most popular fish in the U.S. so it can't be that bad.

Talking of the USA, I have read that its the US catfish industry that are trying to knobble the cobbler. I'm not sure UK supermarkets would sell it if it were unhealthy, though I do worry about the environmental impact of fish farming, especially in SE Asia, so tend to go for sustainable fish without such huge air miles on.
I've not actually tried it as I'm not a fan of fresh water fish anyway.

I hate fresh-water fish, and cobbler is particularly disgusting. It tastes muddy somehow.

Carp are one of the most popular fish in Poland, yet they're disgusting.

Disgusting to you or to everyone except the Polish?

And your problem being?
Oh it's Toby, silly me.

I've eaten it a few times and it's delicious, with a delicate flavour.

I've eaten the Young's basa fillets in a light crumb for years. Perfectly safe but people would be put off if they knew it was a catfish.

Aldi sell tempura basa fillets and they're absolutely delicious!

I tried it a couple of times and wasn't keen. I've also heard that fish farming/processing in that part of the world is dodgy. I'm sure it is perfectly safe but it just doesn't taste of fresh fish to me. Plus if it's farmed, I won't touch any fish whatever it's source.
I live in a rural area and a touring fishmonger calls once a week. His fish is fresh from the docks and you can tell. It's more expensive - but I would rather have less of something or even none of it than compromise.

Polish people seem to have set their own benchmark by the way they regard pickled red cabbage and gherkins as delicacies.

Both of which I love.