How to Cook Stingray and Skates
By: Vic Dunaway
A scene you don't see too often – a stingray at the cleaning table. (Photo courtesy of FloridaSportsman.com)
Next time you crank up a stingray instead of your intended catch, don’t cuss it, eat it. Yes, you can cook stingray and skates. As unappetizing as they look, and as weird as their anatomy seems, stingrays (skates too) aren’t much harder to clean than your usual table varieties. And, yes, they make delicious dinners.
Do they taste like scallops? You bet. Do some Florida restaurants serve them as scallops? I doubt it. The procurement of stingray “scallops” in restaurant quantity would cost more than buying the real thing. But it’s a good topic for debate at the dockside bar.
In my estimation, the perfect size stingray for the table is one with a wingspan of around 18 inches to two feet. Smaller ones don’t yield enough meat to make the effort worthwhile and those with a span much greater than two feet tend to be stringy and tough, although the fillets can still be quite good if parboiled or baked.
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