BajaNomad

manta ray recipe?

dosbcs - 2-4-2010 at 11:42 AM

I recently got a kilo from our local fish guy at a swap meet. I asked him how to cook it . He was very busy and replied in rapid spanish a little to fast for me to understand everything. He said to dice it up, cook it in butter and garlic and then add chopped bell peppers. That is all I understood, do you serve it over rice? or in a tortilla? Any and all recipes would be appreciated.
Thanks

DENNIS - 2-4-2010 at 12:03 PM

Welcome to BajaNomad, dosbcs. I see it for sale at Com Mex and will try it if someone will tell us how. I've heard Bat Ray wing is a substitute for scallops....maybe it's similar in which case, I'll try it for sure.

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 2-4-2010 at 02:25 PM

Hola, when i went fishing in la ribera, the pangero and i exchanged lunches and he gave me a manta ray burrito. seemed to be a bit on the oily side but edible. don't know if it seemed greasy because of the meat or how it was cooked. i have also seen them for sale in the markets and when i visited a beach in todos santos, i saw quite a few carcasses of rays. they are edible.

regarding bat rays...whenever we caught one on the sportboats, and we caught a lot while fishing for white seabass, the deckhands would say to cut the meat of the wings with a scallop shaped cookie cutter and it would be like scallops. whenever we said to them, " you can have it ", they always released them ???? we never brought any home. i think it was just B.S.

by the way, if you catch a bat ray and decide to keep it, watch out for the stinger at the end of the tail !!

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

DENNIS - 2-4-2010 at 02:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BAJA.DESERT.RAT
by the way, if you catch a bat ray and decide to keep it, watch out for the stinger at the end of the tail !!

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT



I thought the stinger was at the base of the tail. :?:

marv sherrill - 2-4-2010 at 04:38 PM

Do not eat, buy or sell Manta Rays - they are being overfished worse that sharks or bluefin tuna - They should be a National treasure like whale sharks. Do not promote exploitative fishing. Just my opinion -

DENNIS - 2-4-2010 at 04:57 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by marv sherrill
Do not eat, buy or sell Manta Rays - they are being overfished worse that sharks or bluefin tuna - They should be a National treasure like whale sharks. Do not promote exploitative fishing. Just my opinion -


Thanks, Marv. I didn't know. It's off my list.

ELINVESTIG8R - 2-4-2010 at 05:26 PM

That's it, I am making a "Vigilante" Crazy Cat GIF with AK-47 that is "Flipper approved" for the Manta Rays. I love petting them at the Sea World in San Diego. They are such gentle creatures!

Ken Bondy - 2-4-2010 at 06:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by marv sherrill
Do not eat, buy or sell Manta Rays - they are being overfished worse that sharks or bluefin tuna - They should be a National treasure like whale sharks. Do not promote exploitative fishing. Just my opinion -


Couldn't agree with you more marv. They are a real treasure, magnificent animals, and they are being slaughtered. They are so docile and vulnerable it is likely that our grandkids will never see one alive. Just to remind those who want to eat them what they look like:

Why?

Dave - 2-4-2010 at 06:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy
they are being slaughtered.


There's now a demand for manta meat? Doesn't sound very appealing.

Ken Bondy - 2-4-2010 at 06:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy
they are being slaughtered.


There's now a demand for manta meat? Doesn't sound very appealing.


They punch out the meat in the "wings" with "cookie cutters" and sell it as "sea scallops". The commercial fishermen did the same thing with angel sharks in California waters until there were almost no more angel sharks. Now any type if ray is fair game, including the big ones.

did not realize they were endangered

dosbcs - 2-4-2010 at 07:07 PM

and will not purchase it again. But how do I prepare what I have?

Monterrey Style?

zforbes - 2-4-2010 at 07:51 PM

Several years ago on a Baja trip with Bajaboy and Tracy, we spent a few days at a fish camp near Bay of LA. On our last morning, we were treated to a feast of freshly caught fish brought in by local pangueros. My Spanish was a little vague, so I thought I was being offered burritos prepared Monterrey style. Bring it on!

When I didn't recognize the texture of the filling, I asked a few more questions. Ahhh! Manta Ray. The salsa and avocado saved the day. It would have been rude to refuse, so I ate two. Now I have a good ecological reason to refrain from eating manta ray.

dosbcs - as I recall, the manta ray was sauteed in oil with onions and chiles in a cast iron skillet. I seem to remember tomatoes and jalapenos, but maybe that's what I wish had been there. Bajaboy may remember more.

DENNIS - 2-4-2010 at 07:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dosbcs
But how do I prepare what I have?


I guess you could just follow a recipe for scallops.

ELINVESTIG8R - 2-4-2010 at 08:45 PM

[/ALIGN]

[Edited on 2-5-2010 by ELINVESTIG8R]

Ken Bondy - 2-4-2010 at 08:54 PM

I think most of the meat sold in Baja as "manta ray" is probably from the smaller Mobula species. Mobula are still fairly plentiful in the Sea of Cortez. Mobulas are the ones you often see breaching, and unlike mantas, which are solitary, mobulas travel in large schools. True manta rays (Manta birostris) are almost gone in the SOC, although there is a reliable population in the Revillagigedos, most of them at San Benedicto. The fact that they are still in the Revillagigedos is probably a result of the dive boats that regularly visit there, mainly to see the mantas. I think some effort is exerted by the Mexican operators to protect them for that reason. There they are worth more alive than dead.

Udo - 2-4-2010 at 09:24 PM

I am sure JESSE will chime in on this...

However

I also did not know that the rays were an endangered species, but after a little research, the endangered species are the large manta rays, not the little beach rays seen at many beaches all over Baja. These guys are as common as halibuts. The small rays are sold at most fish markets all over Baja and can commonly be seen sold at the Ensenada fish market. They are very meaty and delicious when fixed Veracruz style. It can also be cut up into fish taco sized strips and served just as one would serve a regular fish taco.
In the US it is also readily available and is commonly known as "SKATE", and restaurants get good bucks for it.
For many recipes, google skate recipes.

Dave, killergato is a cool gif!

Sell it to whom?

Dave - 2-4-2010 at 09:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy


They punch out the meat in the "wings" with "cookie cutters" and sell it as "sea scallops".


They're selling commercially, right? Is it that difficult to tell the difference? :rolleyes:

Ken Bondy - 2-4-2010 at 09:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy


They punch out the meat in the "wings" with "cookie cutters" and sell it as "sea scallops".



They're selling commercially, right? Is it that difficult to tell the difference? :rolleyes:


Don't understand Dave. The difference between what and what?


[Edited on 2-5-2010 by Ken Bondy]

Dave - 2-4-2010 at 10:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Don't understand Dave. The difference between what and what?


Between cut out manta and real sea scallops. How could one not tell the difference?

Hook - 2-4-2010 at 11:06 PM

Someone told me that the caguamanta/cahuamanta stands you see (at least over here on the mainland) are attempts to appeal to Mexican's desire for turtle with a similar legal (or more plentiful) alternative; manta ray meat or, more likely, mobula meat.

True?

Mulegena - 2-4-2010 at 11:54 PM

Yeah, I believe it is the mobula that are being slaughtered and sold as manta ray. It is thrilling to see them breach out on the water; it is shocking to see their cartilagenous bodies stripped of all flesh and discarded onto the sea floor while scuba diving and snorkeling.

In my opinion this is one more sea creature we should protect.

Elinvestdude, thanks for the animation "The Mobulator"

MULEGENA THANKS FOR THE IDEA

ELINVESTIG8R - 2-5-2010 at 04:23 AM

Bay Rays

Pompano - 2-5-2010 at 06:49 AM

An early memory brings back stacks of dried bat wings, waiting to be made into machaca. Then came the cookie cutter scallops. (Of course the real rock scallops were already long gone by this time...around mid-70's)



One of our first catches inside Conception Bay was the ray you see my old amigo, Randy, holding on the gaff. That was about a 60-lb ray that took a shrimp off the bottom near Robinson Crusoe beach. It suprised us when it decided to pull us around a bit before we could get it into the boat. THAT'S when all hell broke loose! We learned on the run that day...

A new-found Baja friend, Manuel Diaz, is filleting it and another for our group dinner that night on Coyote Beach. He marinated with some great liquid. It was delicious..we called it 'Poor Man's Scallops' and the two rays fed all 25 of us.

Top right corner is an old dear friend who passed last June..nomad aquaholic..and Co-pilot ('Sarah Palin' double).
We sure had some times back then..and hey, we're still having 'em today!

All the fish you can imagine was caught INSIDE the Bay back then. Marlin, sailfish, wahoo, tuna, yellowtail, snapper, roosterfish, pargo, giant grouper, triggerfish, shark, and on and on and on...all gone now. Am I a little peeed? Oh, yeah!

I can remember seeing hundreds of rays jumping and flipping at one time...so often it became commonplace to me. Truly a wonderful natural sight to behold on a flat day in the bay.




Of course, that was a long, long time ago. I haven't seen those kinds of numbers in the bay or anywhere else since the 70's.

The panga guys pretty much took MOST of them a long time ago...which adds to the many reasons why we don't see sharks in the bay nowadays. (see pic) These sights were commonplace all along the farside shore of Conception Bay back then. My photo only shows one tiny spot ...there were a dozen camps like this..and thousands of ray skeletons littered the beaches for miles. Damn! Such a waste...damn and double damn. Then they took all the scallops..then the urchins...then the lobster...then the octopus...then even the conch and sea cukes..next even the damn beach sand will start to disappear like the once beautiful shell/rock areas near Punta Chivato..shame, shame.

Ach..maybe time to move further south to ...? Ah, but THIS time I'm not telling. Shhhh.. ;)

Now that I have 'vented' a bit..I feel much, much better. Come on, Co-pilot, let's go outside the Bay and catch some dinner...

.

[Edited on 2-5-2010 by Pompano]

Ken Bondy - 2-5-2010 at 08:07 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Don't understand Dave. The difference between what and what?


Between cut out manta and real sea scallops. How could one not tell the difference?


I get it. If you've had both rock scallops and the cookie cutter scallop cut from the wings of rays and sharks (like angel sharks) you can tell the difference. But there is a definite similarity. The problem is that most people have never had the real thing - rock scallops are pretty much gone now, both north and south of the border. So most people have only tasted cookie cutters. In the USA anything sold as "sea scallop" is a cookie cutter, a fake scallop. The only real rock scallops I see in California waters now are in protected areas. They are gone in the areas where hunting is permitted.

dosbcs - 2-5-2010 at 08:39 AM

These guys are as common as halibuts. The small rays are sold at most fish markets all over Baja and can commonly be seen sold at the Ensenada fish market. They are very meaty and delicious when fixed Veracruz style. It can also be cut up into fish taco sized strips and served just as one would serve a regular fish taco.
In the US it is also readily available and is commonly known as "SKATE", and restaurants get good bucks for it.
For many recipes, google skate recipes.

Thanks for the recipe search ideas. This is a small beach ray so I don't feel as guilty.

marv sherrill - 2-5-2010 at 05:03 PM

I've had both in the same meal - real scallops I collected, and bat ray scallops bought in Guerro Negro - real scallops soft and tender, fake ones, odd shapes and tough like abalone! no comparison