$ · lifting and turning delicate fish fillets
Turn a fillet without it falling apart
Sliding beneath fillets and turning them with less tearing than a thick spatula.
OXO Good Grips Little Fish Turner
Congrio in English is Conger eel. It belongs to the Congridae family; the names below show how the same fish is sold across international markets.
Also called
🇺🇸🇬🇧Conger eel🇫🇷Congre🇵🇹Congro🇮🇹Grongo🇩🇪Meeraal
Congrio is the European conger, a heavy scaleless eel that can exceed two metres and is sold in thick cross-cut steaks rather than fillets. Its reputation is regional and strong: in Chile the caldillo de congrio is close to a national dish, celebrated in Neruda's ode, while in the Basque Country and Galicia it goes into stews and into the dried-and-salted trade. The front half, nearer the head, is the part worth buying — it is meaty, firm and gelatinous, excellent in stews and rice dishes where it thickens the liquid as it cooks. The tail end is dense with fine bones and is usually sold cheaper for stock. Note that the Chilean congrio of restaurant menus is usually not this fish at all but one of several unrelated cusk-eels, a substitution so entrenched that the name has effectively transferred.
Names by country
| Country | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸United States | Conger eel | |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | Conger eel | |
| 🇦🇷Argentina | Congrio | Chilean restaurant congrio is usually an unrelated cusk-eel, not this fish |
| 🇫🇷France | Congre | |
| 🇪🇸Spain | Congrioprimary | The front half is the cut worth buying; the tail is bony and sold for stock |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | Congro | Also safio |
| 🇮🇹Italy | Grongo | |
| 🇩🇪Germany | Meeraal |
Culinary substitutes
Often confused with
Handling fish at home
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