PANGASSIUS

Name: PANGASIUS
Latin: Pangasius
English: Pangassius or panga

Order: Perciforms
Family: Pangasiidae

Species: 500 species

Trading forms:
frozen (-18º C), skinned fillets; packed in10 kilo boxes,

Presentation: fillets

Origin: Vietnam

Size: 170- 220 g / piece, +220 g / piece

Preparation: grilled, oven baked, coated in a breading mixture,

Nutritional value:

Recipes: see www.DonMariano.ro

Pangasius/Panga is a freshwater fish, a catfish which is found in Southeast Asia, the Mekong basin (Vietnam).

There are over 500 different species. Those which are imported in Romania in the form of fillets are two species: Pangasius hypophthalmus (in Vietnamese: TRA) and Pangasius Bocourti (in Vietnamese: BASA).

Pangasius has a black back and a white belly. It lives in deep waters in the subtropical climate, with water temperatures from 22 to 26 degrees Celsius.

It is a migratory fish. It goes upstream in the Mekong to spawn in May-July and returns in September. Depending on its size, the female deposits about 600,000 eggs on the river bottom.

It is a predatory fish that feeds at night with: shellfish, other fish, plants.
It has an incredible growth rate of a few kilograms per year.
About 20 years ago two species were naturalized in aquaculture: Pangasius hypophthalmus (in Vietnamese: TRA) and Pangasius Bocourti (in Vietnamese: BASA).

Pangasius fillets were introduced first in the USA and are now exported to 125 countries. From a production of several thousand tons at first, in 2009 the export reached 1 million tons.
It is one of the most successful whitefish, comparable to the Alaska Pollack and cod.
There is a Giant Pangasius species (giant catfish) which reaches 3 meters and 150-200 kilos.

It has a delicious meat, light, full of finesse, with a unique taste.
There are three types of pangasius meat: white, pink and yellow.
The success is due to its very low price, being the strongest competitor for the white fish fillets on the international market.