Frozen Pangasius Fillets: Trim Grades, Portions and Blocks

Product overview

Pangasius trades under several names, and the label rarely tells the whole story. Almost every frozen fillet in international trade comes from Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, known in Vietnam as tra and sold in the United States as swai. The name basa, widely used by distributors and in the product name on this page, strictly belongs to a related species, Pangasius bocourti, which is farmed in much smaller volumes. Our offers therefore carry the scientific name, so the buyer knows which fish is in the carton and can apply the trade name that the destination’s labeling rules accept.

Export production is concentrated in the provinces along the Mekong and Bassac rivers in southern Vietnam, where farms, feed mills and fillet plants sit close together and fish are carried live by well boat from the pond to the processing line. Because the volume and the specialist plants are there, we source pangasius through partner processors in the Delta, not from Thai production, and name the province and the plant on every offer. Filleting and trimming are still largely manual, fillets are candled over light tables for bones and parasites, and fish are usually frozen within hours of leaving the water.

Trim is the first grade a buyer sets. Untrimmed fillets keep the belly meat, fat and the strip of red meat; semi-trimmed fillets have part of the fat and red meat removed; well-trimmed fillets have all three cut away to leave a clean, even white fillet. Flesh color is graded separately, through white, light pink, pink and yellow, and white or light pink lots carry the higher prices. Sizes usually run 60⁠–⁠120, 120⁠–⁠170, 170⁠–⁠220 and 220 g up per fillet, and fillets can also be cut into portions, strips and cubes or frozen in blocks for breading and portioning lines such as those making fish fingers and fish sticks.

Water is where pangasius offers really differ. Fillets are often tumbled with phosphate-based moisture retainers before freezing, and they hold a heavy glaze easily, so two quotes for the same trim and size can deliver very different amounts of fish per kilogram paid for. We state the treatment, the glaze and the net weight on each offer, and moisture content can be measured per lot against your market’s or retailer’s limit; thawed-sample checks for trim, color, odor, parasites and stray skin can also be arranged. The mild, boneless flesh suits fish and chips, breaded portions, curries, hot pot and ready meals, and skin from the same lines is supplied as fish skin for crisps and gelatin, alongside other fish processing by-products.