Snakehead - ikan Haruan

[DaveOponic]

The fish we got from a dam today are called Snakehead or Ikan Haruan in Malay. They look a bit like a catfish but no whiskers. The Javanese guys who caught them for us call them "Ikan Lele" (catfish)

The one we ate tonight tasted a bit like bream with the same small flaky texture and mild taste with not tooo many bones. the one we cooked was probably about a kilo. I have six more in the pond to fatten up.

The interesting thing is the medicinal qualities of this fish. (See website below) As I have a hernia and need an operation soon, it was very timely to find these fish.

They are probably illegal in Australia as well. Sorry folks.

[DaveOponic]

WHOOPS .... forgot to post this .....



http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=183135

[Hamish]

Very interesting read Dave.

[jack@badflas]

How carnivorous are they? Could they be co-cropped with tilapia and eat the fry so you are only feeding the adults? People often co-crop tilapia with bass. The bass just eat the little ones, leaving the bigger fish alone.

[wey2go]

There is another fish known as Snakehead (Ikan Toman).
See:
http://images.google.com.au/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLR_enAU285AU286&q=Toman&um=1&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title

Both look very similar but Toman can grow to be a huge fish while I have not seen Haruan bigger than about 60cm or so (from my memory as a child) Dad used to fish both Toman and Haruan in Malaysia. The largest Toman I have seen was in Singapore Aquarium (Sentosa Island). They were huge, probably around 2m in length!

Toman is a fierce fish. We had one in our backyard aquarium in Malaysia. It can swallow a small rat or bird whole.

[DaveOponic]

How carnivorous are they? Could they be co-cropped with tilapia and eat the fry so you are only feeding the adults? People often co-crop tilapia with bass. The bass just eat the little ones, leaving the bigger fish alone.

Jack,

I now understand why you asked this question.... I now have 3 generations of Tilapia fry in my big tank. If this population explosion continues I will soon have hundreds, not dozens of Tilapia in my tank!

And to think a few weeks ago I was concerned about the babies being eaten by the adults!!!

The Ikan Haruan escaped custody, one by one..... they all managed to jump out of the pond and wiggle, waddle and leap away.... one made for the drain and was returned by a neighbour..... another was found about 10 metres away on the front driveway......another managed to get within metres of the drain before suffocation.

[DaveOponic]

There is another fish known as Snakehead (Ikan Toman).
See:
http://images.google.com.au/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLR_enAU285AU286&q=Toman&um=1&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title

Both look very similar but Toman can grow to be a huge fish while I have not seen Haruan bigger than about 60cm or so (from my memory as a child) Dad used to fish both Toman and Haruan in Malaysia. The largest Toman I have seen was in Singapore Aquarium (Sentosa Island). They were huge, probably around 2m in length!

Toman is a fierce fish. We had one in our backyard aquarium in Malaysia. It can swallow a small rat or bird whole.

The fish we had were between 1 - 2 kg. They were netted by some Javanese guys in a dam. I ate one but the others escaped my pond. They were a dirty fish and managed to foul the pond within a few hours... water was murky. Very slimy too. The taste of the one I ate wasn't bad but I am not really interested in keeping them in my AP.

The fish have a huge tongue and pretty sharp little teeth.

I'm not sure whether they were Haruan or Toman. They were black in colour with some brown markings.

I'm sticking with Tilapia for the time being.... easy to look after PROLIFIC BREEDERS and taste good too.

[wey2go]

Haruan is better tasting. I believe there are attempts to farm Haruan in Malaysia but I am not sure how sucessful they are.

I do not think it is a good fish for AP.

[arthoz]

I daresay it's a succesful venture here in Malaysia though it might be difficult to breed them with AP. Haruan are a type of what our folk call swamp fish and they have a high survivability outside water. It has been repprted that they travelled between swamps on dry land and in the rainy season, some are known to traverse across hills. Myth? Well, visit Malaysia and witness them on your own.

Fish like them such as Puyu are also known to kill human. They jump into your mouth and cause you to die from lack of air and internal bleeding. This is not a myth. There have been a report in the newspaper of a child who died when playing with his Puyu fish. They say that the fish likes to look for holes to hide and an open mouth looks like one, hence the reason for them to jump into your mouth, given the chance. If you put one of them inside a small container, the way that they swim creates a whirlpool.

Aside from that, I vouch for Haruan regenerative benefits. I have been in a major operation where the surgeon cut my stomach open. I used to joke that the cut was so big, you could put your head in it. I could barely move after the operation and my family gave me essences of Haruan to drink. I was able to walk on the third day, by the fifth day I was discharged from hospital. On the tenth day when the nurse was opening my stiches, they commented on the advance state of my healing when they find it difficult to pull out the thread. In a month I could get back to my study and do usual light activity, although I've received a two month sick leave.

I also ate haruan stew with rice porridge for many weeks in order to heal. It's good for those who are sick and mothers who just gave birth. However it required a good knowledge to make a delicious Haruan meal and since I'm not the expert, forgive me for not sharing the recipe. Maybe in two months time when I have my term holiday and I'll try to ask my mother or grandmother.