Barracuda is a nutrient-rich fish used in many delicious and easy-to-make dishes. Today, let’s explore how to differentiate the existing types and choose fresh and delicious barracuda!
1 Differentiating the types of barracuda
Barracuda is a bottom-dwelling fish
Barracuda is a bottom-dwelling fish found in rivers in Asia, Africa, and Europe. This species is also called snakehead, as it looks quite similar to an eel.
The barracuda has a long, elongated body with a slimy layer surrounding its body. An adult barracuda can weigh about 1-2kg, and its color ranges from dark gray to lighter shades towards the belly.
Barracudas are nocturnal and primarily feed on aquatic species and small shrimp. There are many different types of barracuda. Let’s take a look at the distinctive features to distinguish them!
Mud Barracuda
Mud Barracuda
Also known as rice fish, they are quite common and used by humans as food due to their sweet and fragrant meat, soft bones, and delicious taste.
They can grow up to about 30.5cm in length. Mud barracuda has 3 long whiskers, a gray body with small black spots scattered evenly on its back. As it gets closer to the belly, the color becomes lighter and gradually changes to a slight pinkish hue.
Fire Barracuda
Fire Barracuda
This fish species is found in many countries in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia,…
The fire barracuda has a long, slender, and flattened body. Compared to the mud barracuda, the fire barracuda has a longer and sharper head.
This species has an attractive appearance with a predominant color of gray-brown and red streaks running on both sides from the top to the tail, resembling small flames. The dorsal fin of the fish can be red or yellow, like small flames.
Knife Barracuda
Knife Barracuda
You will be quite impressed with this fish species as they have many spots on their bodies. This can be a distinctive feature for you to identify the knife barracuda from the other two types mentioned above.
This fish has a long, round body with a relatively flat tail. The knife barracuda has a small head and the mouth is not too big. With adults, they can grow up to about 50-90cm in size.
River Barracuda
River Barracuda
This fish is often found in Vietnam in the Red River and the Lo River.
The river barracuda has a slender and pointed body. Similar to the knife barracuda, it also has many spots on the body, but they look quite similar to snake patterns.
Net Barracuda
Net Barracuda
This species looks quite similar to the river barracuda. However, the net barracuda (also known as ) has a longer and larger body.
The back of the net barracuda has a rigid fin, the body has many spots, dark brown color, and the pattern is a combination of yellow and black, with small scales, short pectoral and abdominal fins, and a wide tail fin. For adults, they can reach about 0.45 – 0.5kg in weight and 17 – 23cm in length.
This barracuda can be processed into many delicious dishes such as baked barracuda with cilantro, barracuda soup, stir-fried barracuda, grilled barracuda,…
2 Tips for buying fresh and delicious barracuda
Tips for buying fresh and delicious barracuda
To buy fresh barracuda, consider the following tips with us! They include:
- Select live, firm, and lively fish. Usually, freshly caught fish will have higher freshness and taste better.
- Choose fish of a suitable size, round, and with plenty of meat. Press the fish’s body with your hand to feel its firmness and elasticity.
- Avoid buying fish that show no signs of life or are already dead with a putrid smell. Usually, such fish are not tasty and can affect the taste of the dish.
- You should choose reputable places with clear origins to find fresh and delicious barracuda!
These are our shares about how to differentiate and buy fresh and delicious barracuda. We hope that with this article, you can gain useful knowledge. Please comment below to let us know your feedback!
