Hoki substitute

Best substitute

Alaska pollock

Use the same amount by weight as the hoki you are replacing

Best for battered fish

Close match

Alaska pollock is the closest swap at 1:1 - it is the same kind of soft, mild, frozen white fillet used for the same battered and crumbed jobs. Basa is equally close and equally cheap. Tilapia is firmer and drier, which actually makes it the better choice if you are baking rather than frying. Cod, haddock or hake is a straight upgrade at 1:1: firmer, larger flakes, more money, and thicker fillets so add 3-5 minutes. Whatever you use, the key habit with hoki and its substitutes is to drive off water first - thaw fully, press dry and salt for 15 minutes, or the coating slides off and the fish steams grey.

Other hoki substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Basa, pangasius or river cobbler
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The other cheap frozen white fillet - soft and wet like hoki, and a little sweeter.
What changes
Best for
battered fish, crumbed fillets, curries, stir-fries, baked fish with a sauce
Basa is at least as soft as hoki and holds even more water, so the drying and salting step is not optional here - press the thawed fillets between paper towels, salt for 15 minutes, and pat dry again. It is slightly sweeter and can taste faintly flat or muddy on its own, so it is best inside batter or under a sauce rather than plainly grilled.
3Tilapia
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Firmer and drier than hoki, which makes it worse for battering and better for baking.
What changes
Best for
baked fish, crumbed fillets, fish tacos, grilling, curries
Because tilapia holds together better, it survives a hot oven and a grill where hoki would break up, and it does not weep liquid into a baking dish. In batter it eats slightly meatier and less tender than hoki. The flavour is mild but can carry an earthy note depending on the farm; lemon or lime fixes it. Fillets are thicker, so allow an extra 2-4 minutes.
4Cod, haddock or hake
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The upgrade - firmer, sweeter and in much larger flakes, at roughly double the price.
What changes
Best for
fish and chips, battered fish, baked fish, fish pie, chowder
This is what a hoki fish supper is aspiring to be. The flakes are big and moist rather than fine and soft, and the flavour is cleaner and sweeter. Fillets are considerably thicker, so add 3-5 minutes and drop the frying oil slightly - around 350F (175C) - so the batter is not dark before the middle is hot. Hake is the softest of the three and closest to hoki.
5Whiting
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Small, delicate and sweet - a very good crumbed fish and a poor one for anything stirred or grilled.
What changes
Best for
crumbed fillets, shallow frying, fish fingers, fish cakes
Whiting is thinner and more fragile than hoki with a slightly sweeter flavour, so it cooks a couple of minutes faster and needs a light crumb rather than a heavy batter. In Australia it is the traditional crumbed fish and is generally considered a step up from hoki. Handle it once and turn it with a wide spatula.
6Ling or gemfish
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The other fish Australian and New Zealand recipes name for the same jobs - firmer and more substantial than hoki.
What changes
Best for
battered fish, baked fish, curries, pies, chowder
Firmer, meatier and more expensive than hoki, so it holds up in a curry or a pie where hoki would collapse into the sauce. Be careful with the name: ling in Britain means a lean cod relative, while ling in Australia can mean cobia, a dense oily fish - if the fillet you are holding is thick and dense rather than soft and white, treat it as a firm fish and shorten the cooking time.
7Frozen white fish blocks or fish portions
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Not a species but a product - the honest answer if hoki was going into fish fingers or a family fish pie.
What changes
Best for
fish fingers, fish pie, fish cakes, oven-baked breaded fish
These blocks are usually pollock or hoki anyway, pressed and frozen, so for a crumbed or battered application they are the same thing at a lower price. They shed a lot of water as they cook, so bake them on a rack or a preheated tray rather than in a dish, and do not use them anywhere the fish is meant to arrive as an intact fillet.

What is Hoki?

Hoki is a long deep-water fish from the seas around New Zealand, also sold as blue grenadier in Australia and as New Zealand whiptail, with soft, very moist, fine-flaked white flesh, sold almost entirely as frozen skinless fillets for fish and chips, crumbed fillets and fish fingers.

Cooking tips

Hoki carries a lot of water, and that is the whole story of cooking it well. Thaw the fillets overnight in the fridge, never in water or a microwave, then press them between paper towels and salt them for 15 minutes before coating. Skipping this is why batter slides off and why fillets come out grey and soft rather than golden.
Fry hot and in small batches - 350-375F (175-190C), two or three pieces at a time. Hoki releases moisture into the oil, so a crowded pan drops in temperature and you get soggy coating on steamed fish. Let the oil recover between batches.
Do not poach hoki. It is too soft: it falls apart in simmering liquid and turns a chowder cloudy. If a recipe poaches the fish, buy cod, haddock or ling instead, or crumb the hoki and bake it and add it at the end.
The fillets taper steeply from a thick shoulder to a thin tail. Cut them into even portions before coating, or fold the thin tail end back under itself, so the whole piece finishes at the same time.
Hoki is almost always sold frozen even in New Zealand and Australia, because it comes from deep water a long way offshore. Frozen-at-sea fillets are the normal product, not a compromise, so there is no need to hunt for fresh - and the same is true of the pollock and basa you might substitute.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best substitute for hoki?

Alaska pollock, then basa - both are soft mild frozen white fillets used for exactly the same battered and crumbed jobs, and both swap at 1:1 with no change in timing. If you want the dish to be better rather than just equivalent, cod, haddock or hake is firmer and sweeter, with 3-5 minutes added for the thicker fillets.

Is hoki the same as blue grenadier?

Yes. Hoki in New Zealand, blue grenadier in Australia, and sometimes New Zealand whiptail or whiptail hake on export labels - all the same deep-water fish. If a recipe uses any of those names, everything on this page applies.

Can I use cod instead of hoki in fish and chips?

Yes, and most people would call it an improvement. Cod is firmer with much bigger flakes. The one adjustment is thickness: cod fillets are thicker, so add 3-5 minutes and fry a little cooler, around 350F (175C), so the batter is not too dark before the centre is cooked through.

Why is my hoki watery and falling apart?

Almost always because it was not dried before cooking. Hoki holds a lot of water, and if you take a fillet straight from thawing to the pan, that water turns to steam under the coating and the fillet collapses. Thaw in the fridge, press dry, salt for 15 minutes, dry again, then coat and cook in a properly hot pan.

Can I just leave the hoki out?

Not from a fish recipe - it is the protein. But hoki is one of the most interchangeable fish there is, so use whatever mild white fillet your shop has and change nothing else. For a version without fish, banana blossom or thick planks of firm tofu take the same batter and fry up convincingly in a fish-and-chips context.

Related substitutes

More seafood substitutes

Hoki substitute

Other hoki substitutes

2Basa, pangasius or river cobbler

3Tilapia

4Cod, haddock or hake

5Whiting

6Ling or gemfish

7Frozen white fish blocks or fish portions