skate

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skate

A fish that lives in the shallow waters of most seas. Skate measures from 12 in. (30 cm) to more than 20 ft (6 m) in length, depending on the species (the manta ray is the largest and can weigh over 1 ton/900 kg). Its wings, cheeks and liver are edible. It has white or pink flesh with no bones.

Buying

Small skate are sold whole and gutted. Larger specimens are sold in pieces.

Preparing

Skate contains urea, which turns into ammonia after the death of the fish. This substance disappears during cooking, but skate is better 1 or 2 days after being killed, as the smell is less strong. To improve the flavor, rinse skate before cooking by soaking it for 2 hr in water to which some lemon, vinegar or milk has been added.

To skin skate, cover with boiling water and poach for 1-2 min. Lay the skate out flat and scrape off the skin with a knife; turn it over and repeat the process. Proceed with care, as the wings can contain spikes.

Serving Ideas

Skate is cooked in the same way as scallops. Cook well or it will be slimy. It should also be served very hot to avoid its becoming gelatinous.

Cooking

Remove the skin of the skate. 

Poached: 15 min.

Baked: 15-25 min.

Sautéed: in a beurre noir (browned butter with a little lemon juice or vinegar) (4-6 min each side).

Nutritional Information

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For more information on skate, visit Britannica.com.

Cartilaginous fish, Raja undulata.

This odd-looking, kite-shaped fish is also called a ray. The names are used interchangeably, though in some quarters the term "skate" is applied to the members of this species that are used for eating, while "ray" generally refers to those (like the electric ray and giant manta ray) that are fished for sport. Skates have winglike pectoral fins that undulate as the fish meanders along the ocean floor (there are also freshwater rays). The fins are the edible part of a skate. Their delicious flesh is firm, white and sweet-not unlike that of the scallop. Depending on the region, skate is available year-round. Like shark meat, skate must be soaked in acidulated water to remove its natural ammonia odor. Skate can be prepared in a variety of ways including poaching, baking and frying. See also fish.

• Fish
• Fish and Shellfish
• 1960’s
• Hockey
• Mood and Intent - skate: glide along smoothly, as if crossing ice

This article is about the fish. For other uses, see Skate (disambiguation).

Skates Temporal range: Late Cretaceous–Recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N [1]
New Zealand smooth skate Dipturus innominatus Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Superorder:	Batoidea
Order:	Rajiformes Berg, 1940
Family:	Rajidae Bonaparte, 1831

Skates are cartilaginous fishes belonging to the family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea of rays. More than 200 species have been described, in 27 genera. There are two subfamilies, Rajinae (hardnose skates) and Arhynchobatinae (softnose skates).

Contents 1 Genera 2 Conservation 3 Gallery 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Genera

• Amblyraja
• Arhynchobatis
• Atlantoraja
• Bathyraja
• Breviraja
• Brochiraja
• Cruriraja
• Dactylobatus
• Dentiraja
• Dipturus
• Fenestraja
• Gurgesiella
• Hongeo
• Insentiraja
• Irolita
• Leucoraja
• Malacoraja
• Neoraja
• Notoraja
• Okamejei
• Pavoraja
• Psammobatis
• Pseudoraja
• Raja
• Rajella
• Rhinoraja
• Rioraja
• Rostroraja
• Sympterygia
• Zearaja

Conservation

Skates have slow growth rates and, since they mature late, low reproductive rates. As a result, skates are vulnerable to overfishing and appear to have been overfished and are suffering reduced population levels in many parts of the world. The barndoor skate, Raja laevis, is currently listed with the IUCN as vulnerable due to being severely overfished.^[2] However, population data are lacking to determine the exploitation of the big skate at this time.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, Greenpeace International added the barndoor skate, bottlenose skate, spotback skate, and maltese skate to its seafood red list. "The Greenpeace International seafood red list is a list of fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries."^[3]

Gallery

• 

  Skate, Raja erinacea

• 

  Broad skate, Amblyraja badia

• 

  Uncooked skate wing

• 

  A skate, half-buried beneath the sand

• 

  A cut-away view of a skate egg case

See also

• Jenny Haniver, a fake sea monster created from a skate corpse
• Mokpo city of South Korea is famous for its skate cuisine.

References

1. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2009). "Rajidae" in FishBase. January 2009 version.
2. ^ Florida Museum of Natural History
3. ^ Greenpeace International Seafood Red list

External links

Wikispecies has information related to: Rajidae

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rajidae

Look up skate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Skate

• ARKive - images and movies of the common skate (Dipturus batis)
• Kliman, Todd. "Skate Goes From Trash Fish to Treasure", Washingtonian, May 1, 2006.

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