The wild patin is a valued fish for many of the riverine people in Sarawak. However due to some taboos and personal choice, the fish is not eaten by many Melanaus and Malays.
It is a fleshy fish and often people liken it to the tropical version of salmon, although its meat when cooked is white, and when in the raw it is red. The patin is usually cut into steaks and cooked in different ways by the indigenous people. It can be cooked as a soup, thus becoming very nutritious for the elderly and the young. Its flesh can be flaked and added to porridge, together with wild mushrooms. Filleted, it is a good fish to be battered and deep fried. Fish fingers made from patin is very delicious and so are the fish cakes. Patin can also be deep fried, or cooked in different varieties of curries.
One of the most famous dishes in Malaysia is Patin cooked with fermented durians, which can appear even in banquets hosted by royalty.
In English it is called the silver catfish because is belly is silver. Fishermen usually sell patin which are still alive, in shallow water tanks. When they come belly up, they cannot be sold. However patin can live for a long time in shallow water and even in thick mud.
According to some chefs, the best patin in Sarawak are found in the sometimes salty and sometimes fresh waters of Sarikei and Bintangor. Sea Patin can fetch a very high price and is not often caught. It is very much better than river patin.
Patin can be farmed and in fact the business is catching up in the last decade.
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