Sand Whiting

When Caught

Year round. Yellowfin whiting is in limited supply from May through August.

Important Features

Wild/Farmed: Wild
Habitat: Saltwater and estuarine
Recovery Rate: Fillets: 50% from whole King George whiting (gut in), Fillets: 40% from whole sand whiting (gut in); Fillets: 30% from whole school whiting (gut in)

Sand Whiting Research

FRDC provides a comprehensive search of the latest research papers and images on Sand Whiting

Remarks

Overseas, the name whiting is used for a variety of species, including hake. In Australia the name is usually reserved for members of the family Sillaginidae.

Imports

Nil. The southern blue whiting (imported from NZ) and the North Sea whiting (imported from Europe) are unrelated to Australian whitings.

Overseas Names

GB: bluenose whiting, sand whiting; J: kisu; USA: sand sillago

Alternatives

garfish (pp 38 39)

flathead (pp 30 31)

dory (pp 24 25)

flounder (pp 32 33)

Grading

Grading can vary by supplier, region and species. An example of a grading system for whole King George whiting is presented below.

Sand Whiting Sillago ciliata

Photograph by CSIRO

Nutrition Facts

per 100g of raw product

Kilojoules	362 (86 Calories)
Cholesterol	41 mg
Sodium	70 mg
Total fat (oil)	0.6 g
Saturated fat	32% of total fat
Monounsaturated fat	21% of total fat
Polyunsaturated fat	47% of total fat
Omega-3, EPA	43 mg
Omega-3, DHA	57 mg
Omega-6, AA	42 mg

Data presented are for King George whiting.

Cooking Ideas

Bake	Boil	Deep Fry
Grill/barbecue	Poach	Raw
Roe	Roe & Milk	Salted
Shallow Fry	Smoke	Steam/microwave

Note: Cooking Ideas identified by dark bold text are relevant to this species

Whitings are prized for their sweet, delicate flavour. They are versatile fishes that can be prepared in a number of ways including steaming, baking, barbecuing and grilling, with frying the most common. Careful handling is required because of their soft and delicate texture.

Fried whiting fillets are fantastic served with chips. Smaller whiting are delicious deep fried whole.

Steamed whiting fillets with the rib bones carefully removed have a well-earned reputation as an ideal food for invalids and children because they contain very little oil and are easily digested. Butterfly fillets are also popular as there are few bones.

With the exception of trumpeter whiting, which has soft flesh, all whiting species can be used for sashimi.

Complementary flavourings for whiting are the herbs dill, basil, chives, parsley and tarragon. When whiting is grilled or barbecued, a salad of grapefruit, orange, lime and lemon, with a citrus and olive oil dressing, will complement the flavour wonderfully. Other suitable sauces and condiments are lemon and herbed butters or buerre blanc. Crusts of cumin, coriander and ground turmeric are also tasty.

Flavour: Mild
Oiliness: Low
Moisture: Moist
Texture: Soft to Medium
Flesh Colour: Grey to greyish white or yellowish white
Thickness: Thin to Medium fillets
Bones: Fine rib bones and pin bones are frequent, but are easily removed.
Price: Low to high, King George whiting is a medium- to high-priced finfish.; Other whitings are medium-priced finfish.

Suggested Wines

The delicate flavour of these species calls for subtle wines, with a touch of citrus such as South Australian rieslings or a touch of spicy fruit, such as blends from Western Australia (traminer, riesling, semillon, chenin blanc). These will complement Maggie Beer s cannelloni of King George whiting with salmon caviar from Charlick s Feed Store in Adelaide (p. 306).

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