Fish Story

Today, some of my friends and I were sharing thoughts on recipes for toddlers and came on the looooooooong topic on fish names...

For me, I like going to the fish section at the hypermarkets to check out on the names and the prices coz' the I don't really recognise some of the fish slices at the morning markets most of the time and the prices and be high. I normally go for mah yau, se pan or hong chou for my son.

Can't help but post part of the "e-conversation" here. Can be quite funny too.

C.Nee : My gal loves fried fillet. Try to fry the fillet first without salt ya), then cook the fried fillet with some water and soy sauce. Very yummy....
Y.Leng : .....eh, what fish fillet u r talking abt? .. r u talking abt the 'ikan sebelah' which we can get from the market or the frozen type?
C.Nee : 1 piece of fish potong horizontal like "ma yau" (cantonese), "beh kah" (hokkien), "hong chou" (cantonese)...any fish lar...If can get fresh one lor....frozen not so good. "beh kah" (hokkien), "hong chou" (cantonese). Very fragrant when fried.
Chanel : For steaming ok ah?How the fish looks like, got picture ah?
C.Nee : Venice, pls help with the fish terms. Errr....same look lar...."beh kah" is the one without sisik, with dark shinny smooth skin. Jenahak has got red,black skin with big
sisik....sometimes myself also cannot recognise, will ask the fishmonger.....
Venice : i still wondering what fish lar chin nee. can u pls resend the photo to me again
C.Nee : Haha....remember liao....in english , it is called Mackerel. In hokkien, it is called "tua pan"......
Sharon : there's a few type of mackerel. One of it is considered "tuk"
C.Nee : Tuk is the ikan tongkol, I believe..
Venice : in bahasa malaysia is called ikan tenggiri. in cantonese called kau yue. taste very good when fried it but steam is a no no coz doesn't suit the taste if u steam it. Ikan tenggiri can oso make fish ball, buy from market which oredi pre pack then can have home made fish ball
C.Nee : Ok, let me get this straight:-1. Ikan tenggiri = 'kau yue' in cantonese and "tua pan" in hokkien.This is a not scally fish, usually used to make fish ball, mamak shop use to fry it and sell in pieces of make fish curry. Another variety is the fish look very much like tenggiri but in rounder body is called ikan tongkol.
2. Ikan senangin = 'mah yau' contonese and "beh kah" This is a longish, white and scally fish.
3. Ikan jenahak = hong chou???
4. Ikan parang = 'sai tou yue'??
correct??
Sharon : no lah. Beh Kah is not senangin (mah yau). Beh Kau is "ang hu" / "ang chor". You can get mah yau slices from wet markets.
C.Nee : Sharon, ang hu and ang chor different ler.....
Sharon : Aiyo... I pening already..
C.Nee : Ang hu = ikan merah (cheap). Ang chor = jenahak (expensive) black red colour. Almost look like "se pan".

So, what's the conclusion? I'm really confused.

I think the summary is :
senangin - mah yau (cantonese), beh kah (hokkien), threadfin (english)
jenahak - hong chou (cantonese), ang chor (hokkien) {black red colour}
parang -sai tou (cantonese)
kerapu - sek pan (cantonese), garoupa (english)
kurau - ??
tenggiri (longer body) - kau yue (cantonese), tua pan (hokkien), mackerel (english)
tongkol (rounder body) - mackerel (english)