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Home » Fish » Loving the Unloved: Bat Rays

Loving the Unloved: Bat Rays

By Hank Shaw on June 24, 2012, Updated July 3, 2020 - 31 Comments

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4.67 from 3 votes
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skate wing with brown butter on the plate
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

It was a long time ago, but I remember my mother clearly: “Ugh, sea robin. Throw it back!” So I did.

We were fishing for fluke, a flatfish like a large flounder or a small halibut, but intermittently we would hook into sea robins; they’re ugly sculpins that “sing” with a staccato series of “urks.” This one was urking all the way as I sailed it into the air and back into the Atlantic. It’s my first memory of “trash fish.”

Ever meet one of those little kids who always asks “why?” That was me. I loved to hear how processes unravel, how things work — and I soon developed a perverse joy in seeing at what point the adults’ knowledge ran dry.

It would always be the same: There’d be a look shot in my direction, a stutter or a hem-haw. Then it would be clear to both of us that they really did not know. One day I asked why sea robins weren’t good to eat. I got that same reaction. Sea robins were trash fish, and that was that.

Only it wasn’t. For more than 35 years I’ve been questioning people’s choices on what is and what is not a good fish to eat. And in that time it’s become apparent that what I call “fish prejudice” is a nearly universal condition. It helps define the difference between “us” and “them” among ethnic, racial or regional groups. Fish prejudice is almost never about flavor. It’s about identity.

Few fish fall into this category more strongly than do sharks, skates and rays. When I was a boy, no one I knew kept any of these creatures. And of the sharks, only mako shark was considered fit to eat — and even then it was a second-class fish.

I distinctly remember adults around me complaining that the swordfish they just ate “must have been mako shark,” as if mako is any less wonderful than sword; it isn’t. And God forbid someone would actually consider eating thresher shark, or dogfish, or any of the various skates or rays we’d occasionally catch. Strictly verboten.

Yet many of those same adults would happily order skate wing in brown butter at a fancy French restaurant. It took me a long time to figure out why. But eating fish outside one’s group is apparently OK if you are in their turf, even if that turf is a restaurant in a strip mall. Think of an American eating skate wing in the 1970s as a cultural adventurer. You’ve probably had the same urge at an “ethnic” restaurant: “Maybe I’ll try the (insert food that is unusual to you here).”

These days those barriers are in tatters. Food television has done a lot to show culinary xenophobes that they just might be missing out on something good. America’s cultural melting pot is another huge factor. It’s growing increasingly rare for someone to stick solely within his or her own group, especially at the table.

Bat ray swimming in the kelp
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

But still fish prejudice remains, especially among anglers. And I am not immune. Case in point: Myliobatis californicus, the Pacific bat ray. I’ve caught more than a few of these critters since I moved to California, but had never kept one.

Absolutely everyone I knew — across ethnic groups, mind you — said they were inedible. “Mud marlin” is the ray’s nickname, as they often live in muddy areas and fight like hell when you hook them. I suspected they were inedible because, like all members of the shark family, they process urea through their skin. So the flesh of a poorly handled shark, skate or ray can smell like piss, or worse, like ammonia. Not good eats.

You defeat this problem with sharks by gutting them on the boat, minutes after you catch them. Do this, get the fish on ice, and you will have one of the best-tasting fish in the ocean. I’ve done this with about a dozen different species of shark, too, so it seems pretty widespread. With skates and rays, you only eat the “wings.” With the skates I’d caught back in New York and New Jersey, when you catch one you kill it and slice the wings off right then and there.

So it nagged at me why a bat ray must be bad eating. Something wasn’t clicking. I knew the prejudice was horseshit once I learned that bat rays eat clams. They will occasionally eat other things, like other mollusks and crabs and shrimp, but they are primarily eaters of clams. Remember: You are what you eat, no matter where you live. And every other clam-eating fish I’ve ever caught tasted wonderful. I needed to get over this thing with the bat ray and just eat one.

So as we motored out into the San Francisco Bay last week, I told RJ, “If we catch a bat ray, I want to keep it.” RJ, who I’ve been fishing with many times, tolerates my eccentricities and was game for it. We were fishing for leopard sharks, so there was a good chance we’d connect with a mud marlin.

It was my friend Rick who caught one. As soon as he hooked it, RJ and I knew it was a ray. They are sullen, willful fish that tear line off your reel and stay on the bottom. No head shaking, no frilly runs. Just power. Lots of power. Rick muscled the ray in, however, and it was a nice one, about 10-12 pounds.

Once onboard, RJ whacked the ray and sliced off the wings. He handed them to me and I immediately realized another reason why bat rays are reviled as food: They’re slimy. Skates have skin like sharks: Smooth as silk one way, rough as sandpaper the other. Rays cover themselves in a protective layer of mucousy slime, and slimy fish are almost universally hated by humans. The picture was becoming clearer.

PREPARING SKATES and BAT RAYS

I know how to deal with rays and skates and slimy things, so filleting this bat ray was no biggie.

Start with the slime. Skates don’t have this issue, but rays do. You can remove it in one of two ways: Get a handful of coarse salt and scrub the skin with it in the sink, or just scrub the skin with a scrub brush, also in the sink. It will remind you of that scene in Ghostbusters, but get over it. I will salt the skin when I am leaving it on for poaching, and simply scrub it when I am removing the skin.

If you want a skate or ray wing filleted, you need to slice the meat off the center line of cartilage that runs down the center of the wing. Once you do that you can skin the fillet like any other fish. Lots of people skip this step entirely and poach the wings; once the meat is cooked, the skin and cartilage slips right off.

Skates and rays also have a few other oddities you should know about. For starters, unlike most other fish, skates and rays need to be aged in the fridge a couple days. This firms up the meat enough so you can fillet it without it falling apart. What’s more, a skate or ray’s muscle structure is weird: It looks like wide-wale corduroy. The “grain” of the skate wing all radiates out from where the center of the skate once was.

Skate or ray wings should be brined. The brine draws out any stray smell of ammonia or urea that might be in the wing. A properly handled wing will not have this smell at all, but brining also seasons the meat and helps keep it tender when you cook it. Skate wings, which have no fat in them, are notorious for being dry. If you want, add a little vinegar to the brine, too.

Once you’re prepped your wings, cook them in one of a few ways — dusted in flour and sauteed, deep-fried, or poached. All are ideal. Skate or ray wing will not hold up on a grill, and I don’t like them baked or broiled. But that’s just me.

skate wing brown butter recipe
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

The classic recipe for skate wings is that French method, sauteed in brown butter and served with capers. So I did that with the bat ray. I have to admit that all along the way, from the deck of the boat to meat on the fork, I was hyper-aware of anything that might be “off” or smelly or unpleasant about this fish. But all along the way, the bat ray proved to be just like a regular skate wing.

I cut some with my fork and looked at it. A little darker than the Atlantic skates I’m used to. Weirdly, it looked a lot like chicken thigh; same color and texture, only a lot softer. I took a bite. Tender like flounder or sole, meaty like a striped bass, and absolutely free of any bad aroma or flavor. It was just like a skate wing. Only it was a bat ray.

My head had told me it was going to be like this, but I’d fallen prey to the universal disdain for this fish. Peer pressure had, for years, trumped what I knew in my heart to be so. I am glad I was wrong. And the next time I hook up with a mud marlin, you can be damn sure he’s coming over the rail.

skate wing with brown butter recipe
Print Recipe
4.67 from 3 votes

Skate or Ray Wing with Brown Butter

Rays and skates are interchangeable in the kitchen. "Skate wing" is a term of art in the seafood world; you never know whether you're eating skate or ray. But if you get them yourself, rays are slimy, while skates have smooth skin. Some people like their skate wings on the bone, with the cartilage left in. That's fine, just move it aside on the plate once you eaten it. This is a very simple recipe, so use the finest ingredients you can get: The best butter, the best vinegar, the smallest capers. It makes a difference.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time30 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: French
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 171kcal
Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 4 skate or ray wing fillets
  • 1/4 cup kosher salt
  • 4 cups cool water
  • Flour for dusting
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 1/4 cup sherry or champagne vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoons small capers

Instructions

  • Mix the salt and cool water until the salt dissolves. Submerge the skate or ray in the brine and put in the fridge for 1 to 4 hours.
  • Turn the oven to 200°F and set a large baking pan or casserole dish inside. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Dredge the skate wings in the flour and shake off any excess. Lay them in the pan so they are not touching each other; you may need to cook the skate in batches. Turn the heat down to medium and fry the skate wings until they are golden brown, about 4 minutes. Carefully flip the skate and cook for 1-4 minutes on the other side, depending on how thick they are. If you've never cooked skate before, it cooks more slowly than other fish, so give it a few more minutes that you would a comparable fish.
  • When you are done with the first batch of skate, set them in the oven to keep warm and repeat the process with the rest of the skate.
  • Once the skate is cooked, Pour off any butter from the pan and wipe it off with a paper towel. Add the rest of the butter and set it over medium-high heat. Swirl the pan and let the butter cook until it has browned, then add the vinegar, capers and honey. Swirl to combine and let this boil 1 minute. Put a piece of skate on each person's plate and pour the sauce over. Serve at once.

Notes

Note that prep time does not include optional brine. 

Nutrition

Calories: 171kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 7189mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 525IU | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg
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Filed Under: Featured, Fish, French, How-To (DIY stuff), Recipe

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Comments

  1. Avatar for Kyle M.Kyle M. says

    June 5, 2019 at 3:17 pm

    Any chance you have a recipe for sea Robin? Just pan fried one for the first time and it was delicious!

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      June 5, 2019 at 3:42 pm

      Kyle: Sea robins make the BEST fish soup! They are super firm and the rest of the fish make an excellent stock.

      Reply
  2. Avatar for travistravis says

    March 6, 2019 at 9:38 am

    i will give this a try, but i tried this with a 60lb ray last year and it was just the worst tasting fish i’ve ever had. I didn’t remove the wings right away (about 1.5 hours later) so maybe that was the difference. I’ll give it one more try, but i’m skeptical

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      March 6, 2019 at 9:53 am

      Travis: Yes, that would affect it a lot. Also, do it with a smaller ray, maybe 20 pounds tops. Smaller rays are better tasting. You will want to kill the ray, remove the wings immediately, and get them on ice.

      Reply
  3. Avatar for PETE LOUSTALOTPETE LOUSTALOT says

    September 12, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    IVE ALWAYS HEARD THEY WERE NO GOOD GROWING UPIN THE BAY AREA, BUT LAST WEEK WHILE FISHING I CAUGHT ONE AND DECIDED TO WACK THE WINGS OFF IN THE BOAT AND GIVE THEM A TRY. WE TOOK THEM HOME ON ICE AND CLEANED THE NEXT DAY. LOOKED A LITTLE FUNNY AND DECIDED TO COOK LIKE ABALONE OR CLAMS AND WOW IT WAS DELICIOUS. REMINDED ME OF A CROSS BETWEEN FISH,ABALONE, AND CLAMS.. WHY DO MORE PEOPLE NOT EAT THESE??

    Reply
  4. Avatar for cmeatcmeat says

    November 21, 2017 at 12:58 pm

    midwest here, so my skatewing comes from the store; nothing like that swimming in the great lakes yet.
    not to argue, but all i’ve ever done is grill them. like turning a fan, they come out perfect.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for IsaacIsaac says

    March 3, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    Hi. Would you mind giving us your brine recipe and how long you brine it?

    Reply
  6. Avatar for Kurt BergnerKurt Bergner says

    April 13, 2015 at 2:20 pm

    I have eaten one bat ray, and one skate. With both, I felt kind of guilty because the yield was so low. The bat ray was about 40 pounds, the skate about 70. I think I got about 5 pounds of usable meat off the bat ray, maybe 10 off the skate. And it felt like it took me about 3 hours to get it.

    Based on this, they all get a pass now. I put them in the bucket of “tasty, but not worth the effort.”

    I may take another crack based upon your tip about “aging” the meat. I cleaned mine same day, and when I had the cartilage and skin off, the meat just fell apart. Still tasty, good for fish cakes, but the grains of the flesh would not stay together.

    Reply
  7. Avatar for RichRich says

    July 26, 2014 at 8:38 am

    Thanks Hank,

    My fishing partner yesterday caught a large still to be determined bat ray or skate. It had to be about 50 lbs. We let it go because I didn’t know what to do with him. To me it was a sting ray although I didn’t see a stinger just about a 3′ tail that looked like rebar. It had about a 4′ wing span. We didn’t let it in the boat, got the hook out of his shoulder without really touching it, so I don’t even know what it felt like, slimy or otherwise. Was a little afraid of the tail because of stories about sting rays. It was pretty docile in the net when we finally got him in after a boat chasing half hour battle that saw him dive twice under the boat. One of the best battles of my life and I only handled the rod for a few minutes, what power. Thanks for the post and will try to learn more. Will look for a video of how to cut off the wings to know for sure how close or far from the body. Was kind of happy to let this one go after such a glorious fight. Thought we had hooked a shark in the tail. Thanks again and it was a pleasure reading your post. Bookmarked your site.

    Reply
  8. Avatar for marie dufourmarie dufour says

    March 13, 2013 at 6:58 pm

    Excellent… growing up in France, my mom used to make ray in blackened butter, always poaching the fist first, skin, bones and all. Then she would remove the skin and bones and sautee the meat in butter, with capers. Yummy! I now live on a boat and here, in Panama, catch at least a ray a month. The new way? SMOKED ray! Cut the wings, scrub the slime off, remove from the bone, brine (soy sauce, water, salt, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, lime) for 4 to 8 hours, then cold smoke for 4 hours (nance or mango wood) … YUM!

    Reply
  9. Avatar for RickRick says

    July 21, 2012 at 7:28 pm

    This is great! I am glad that the ray paid off for you, I had had my doubts that day! I’ll be trying this in the future

    Reply
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Hi, my name is Hank Shaw. I am a James Beard Award-winning author and chef and I focus my energies on wild foods: Foraging, fishing, hunting. I write cookbooks as well as this website, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild game, fish, or edible wild plants and mushrooms, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

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