Porgy substitute

Best substitute

Sea bream, dorade or orata

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

Best for roasting whole

Close match

Sea bream or dorade is the same family and swaps 1:1. Black sea bass is the best swap for a whole steamed porgy - firmer, sweeter, and it holds together in the steamer - and branzino is nearly as good. If you want one fish instead of several, buy a 2 to 3 lb red snapper and add about 10 minutes. Buy a whole fish rather than fillets: in a steamed or roasted whole-fish recipe the bones and skin are keeping the flesh moist and giving the dish its flavour, and fillets in the same recipe come out dry and bland.

Other porgy substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Black sea bass
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The best whole fish for steaming - firmer than porgy, just as sweet, and far fewer bones to negotiate.
What changes
Best for
steaming whole with ginger and scallion, roasting whole, grilling, crisp-skin fillets
This is the fish most Chinese-American cooks reach for when porgy is not available, and it is arguably better: the flesh is firm enough to lift off the bone in clean pieces rather than shredding, and the skin takes a hot oil pour beautifully. It costs noticeably more than porgy. Same size, same timing.
3Branzino or European sea bass
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Farmed, consistent and sold at exactly the one-fish-per-person size a porgy recipe assumes.
What changes
Best for
roasting whole, grilling, steaming, salt-baked fish, en papillote
Branzino is a little more delicate and slightly less sweet than porgy, with softer flesh that needs a gentler hand coming out of the pan or off the grill - use two spatulas. Its skin crisps as well as anything. It is reliably available where porgy is not, which is often the deciding factor.
4Red snapper
Different taste
One 2-3 lb snapper for two 1 lb porgies
The right choice if you want a single impressive fish for a table rather than one small fish per person.
What changes
Best for
roasting whole, steaming whole, grilling, fried whole fish
Snapper is firmer and more distinctly flavourful than porgy, with a faintly nutty savoury quality, and its thicker skin makes it the best of these on a grill. Because the fish is much bigger, add time: a 3 lb whole snapper wants 30-40 minutes at 425F (220C) or 20-25 minutes steamed, and it is worth scoring deeply so heat reaches the shoulder.
5Croaker, spot, grunt or other small panfish
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Different fish, identical role - cheap small whole fish sold on the same counters as porgy.
What changes
Best for
fried whole fish, roasting whole, steaming, grilling
Croaker and spot are as bony as porgy and just as sweet, and both are traditional in Southern American frying. They are slightly softer, so they suit frying and steaming better than grilling. Where porgy is sold, these usually are too, and they are frequently cheaper. Cooking times are the same.
6Whole rainbow trout
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Available everywhere, forgiving and the right shape and size - but distinctly richer and unmistakably trout.
What changes
Best for
roasting whole, grilling whole, steaming, stuffed with aromatics
Trout has more fat than porgy, so it stays moist and is hard to overcook, which makes it the most forgiving whole fish on this list. The flesh is pink and its flavour is much more assertive, so a steamed preparation with ginger, scallion and soy tastes noticeably different - still good, just not the clean sweet result porgy gives. Same timing as a 1 lb porgy.
7Whole tilapia (least-bad budget option)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
The cheapest whole fish in most supermarkets, and the weakest choice here - softer, blander and with skin that never crisps.
What changes
Best for
steaming whole with strong aromatics, fried whole fish with a sharp sauce
It gives you the shape of the dish without much of the pleasure: loose flesh, sometimes a faint earthy note, and skin that goes leathery instead of crisp. It works best where the aromatics lead - plenty of ginger, scallion, soy and hot oil, or deep-fried whole and doused in a sour-spicy sauce. For a plainly roasted or salt-baked fish, buy branzino instead.

What is Porgy?

Porgy is Porgy, also called scup and sold in some American markets simply as sea bream, is a small, bony, sweet-fleshed Atlantic panfish usually bought whole at three quarters of a pound to a pound and a half, scaled and gutted.

Cooking tips

Porgy is genuinely bony, and that is part of the deal - it is a cheap whole fish, not a boneless fillet. Steaming or roasting it whole and lifting the flesh off the frame at the table is the intended experience. If bones are a problem for the people you are feeding, buy black sea bass or bream instead of trying to fillet a porgy.
For a whole steamed fish, 10-14 minutes over a hard boil is right for a 1 lb fish. Test at the thickest part behind the head with a chopstick - it should slide in with no resistance. Pour the soy and scallion over hot oil at the very end so the aromatics sizzle; do not steam the fish in the sauce.
Score both flanks two or three times down to the bone. The thin belly and thick shoulder of a round fish otherwise finish minutes apart, and the cuts hold ginger, garlic or lemon slices in place.
Porgy has hard scales that fly a long way. Ask the fishmonger to scale and gut it, or work in a sink under running water. A single missed patch of scales ruins otherwise good crisp skin.
The frame from a porgy or any of its substitutes makes a clean sweet stock in 20 minutes - longer than that and white fish bones turn bitter. Rinse the blood off the bones first, and you have the base for the next night's soup for free.

Frequently asked questions

Is porgy the same as sea bream?

Porgy is in the sea bream family, and in the US it is often labelled sea bream outright. It is smaller, bonier and much cheaper than the European gilt-head bream sold as dorade or orata. In any whole-fish recipe you can swap one for the other with no other changes.

What is the best substitute for porgy in a whole steamed fish?

Black sea bass first - firmer flesh, fewer bones and the same sweetness - then branzino or sea bream. All three are the right one-fish-per-person size and steam in 10-14 minutes. Tilapia is the cheap fallback and is softer and blander, so lean harder on the ginger, scallion and hot oil.

Can I use fillets instead of a whole porgy?

You can, but the dish changes. A whole fish protects its own flesh with skin and bone and gives up gelatin and flavour as it cooks, which is why whole-fish recipes taste of fish rather than only of the sauce. If you use fillets, cut the cooking time roughly in half - 5-8 minutes steamed - and add a splash of stock or wine so they do not dry out.

Can I just leave the porgy out?

No - in a whole-fish recipe the fish is the dish. What you can do is buy any small whole round fish your shop has: bream, branzino, black bass, croaker or trout all work with the recipe unchanged. The ginger, scallion, soy and hot oil are transferable to tofu or aubergine if you want a version without fish, but that is a different dish rather than a substitution.

Why is porgy so cheap?

It is an abundant Atlantic fish that is small, bony and unfamiliar to most American shoppers, so demand stays low relative to supply. It is popular in Northeast and Chinese-American kitchens for exactly that reason - it is one of the best-value whole fish on the counter, and whole fish cook better than fillets.

Related substitutes

More seafood substitutes

Porgy substitute

Other porgy substitutes

2Black sea bass

3Branzino or European sea bass

4Red snapper

5Croaker, spot, grunt or other small panfish

6Whole rainbow trout

7Whole tilapia (least-bad budget option)