Herald Sun, Citystyle

THERE are many complicated ways to prepare fish. But the best recipes, for cooking at home at least, are the simplest.
The important thing to know is the best technique for each fish and what is in season.
Oily fish – salmon, ocean trout, tuna, mackerel, swordfish – are best grilled, roasted or shallow fried, ideally in olive oil.
Reef fish, such as coral trout, trevally or red emperor are ideal for steaming Asian style. Fish such as King George whiting, pearl perch and snapper are best grilled or shallow fried. Whatever the technique, for fish to be at its best it needs to be fresh and not overcooked.
Chef Maurice Esposito, from Esposito at Toofey’s, Carlton, says snapper is running hot. “There was so much snapper at the market this morning you could walk on the water I reckon. It’s at its peak.”
Jason Jurie, from Clamms Seafood, says that with the South Australian snapper season opening this week, the markets will be flooded.
Fish can be bought fresh any day of the week, thanks to the care taken in handling.
“The cold chain is managed a lot better,” Jurie says. “Boats are more inclined to look after their fish because they are achieving a better price and spending more on ice.”
Locally caught fish, such as snapper, can be in the market the day they are caught. Reef fish and barramundi take at least a day to travel down from the tropics, where some boats are out fishing for a week at a time.
“A good fish, from the time it is caught to the time it is eaten, can last for two weeks, as long as it is managed throughout the whole process,” Jurie says.
To tell if a fish is fresh, look at the eyes.
“If it’s dull and lacklustre it probably has a little bit of age. If it has that glowing, shiny look, it is genuinely fresh fish,” Jurie says.
Esposito says the most important thing is the clear eyes, firm flesh and red gills.
“And trust your fishmonger.”
He says markets such as Prahran have fantastic fish because the retailers really care about what they are doing.
Jim Anassis, from Aquanas foods, which today opens its first seafood deli on Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn, says most people won’t see a whole fish, just the fillets.
“If it has a nice glistening colour, it should be good,” he says. “It shouldn’t be opaque.”

CHOOSING shellfish is different, Jason Dixon, from Southbank’s Seagrass, says.
Plump scallops are not the best because they have been washed and absorbed water. “The best ones look slightly gritty,” he says.
Scallops sold in the half shell are presented that way to attract a higher price. “They are fine to buy without the shell,” he says.
Esposito likes to cook whole fish in foil with herbs, lemon and olive oil.
“It is really not very fastidious and it is something you can do on an outside barbecue,” he says.
The fish is wrapped in greaseproof paper, stapled, wrapped in foil and stapled again.
“I think some old chef taught me how to do it properly, but I use staples. I cheat,” Esposito says. “You have got to bend the rules a bit.”

MARKET FRESH
THE best chefs cook with the freshest fish and shellfish they can find. Here are some in good supply for summer:
- Oysters are still in season, but will be spawning by January.
- The local scallop season closes at the end of December. Tasmanian scallops will then come into the markets.
- Snapper is running hot in the bay and SA fish are coming into season.
- Wild barramundi is making way for the farmed fish.
- Tuna is going out of season, but broadbilled swordfish and marlin are coming in.
- Salmon, trout and hiramasa kingfish are all farmed and plentiful.
- Clamms Seafood is importing 1500kg of New Zealand flounder a week.
- Supplies of red emperor, coral trout and gold-band snapper are good.
- Spanish and green mackerel are running.
- Blue eye, hapuka and King George whiting are in good supply.

GILBERT LAU’S STEAMED FISH

2 x 150g pieces of bass groper or reef fish
Piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 tbs peanut or vegetable oil
¼ cup chicken stock
2 tbs light soy sauce
Spring onions, cut diagonally in
2.5cm-long slices
Fresh coriander

Place each fish fillet on two slices of ginger in a steamer. Over a wok or a large pan, steam fish for 8min or until a skewer easily penetrates the thickest part of the flesh. It doesn’t matter if the fish is slightly underdone because it will continue cooking after it’s removed from the heat. Place the fish on a plate.
Heat oil in a small pan and pour over the fish. Add the chicken stock and soy sauce to the same pan and pour over the fish. Place the spring onion and a few sprigs of coriander on top of the fish. Serve with plain rice and steamed bok choy.
Lau’s Family Kitchen, 4 Acland St,
St Kilda. Ph: 8598 9880

JASON DIXON’S CARAMELISED SCALLOPS

20 local scallops
10g hazelnuts
½ head cauliflower, sliced
Milk
Salt
1 bunch white asparagus (optional)
1 bunch green asparagus
80g yellow beans
1 head frisee lettuce
5g chervil
5g chives
Dressing:
60ml extra virgin olive oil
20ml white balsamic vinegar
300ml balsamic vinegar, reduced by three-quarters

Preheat oven to 180C. Roast hazelnuts for about 8min or until golden brown. Place hazelnuts in a tea towel and rub together to remove the skins. Allow nuts to cool. Chop.
Place the cauliflower in a small pot just covered with milk. Season with salt and simmer until soft. Strain off the milk and blitz the cauliflower in a blender until smooth.
Slice the asparagus and yellow beans on an angle at 7cm intervals. Blanch in boiling water and refresh in iced water.
Whisk olive oil and white balsamic vinegar together for the dressing.
Caramelise the scallops on each side in a shallow hot pan of olive oil. Remove and drain on a paper towel.
Place dollops of cauliflower cream along plate and scallops on top.
Mix asparagus, beans, hazelnuts, washed lettuce and herbs in a bowl with dressing and season with salt. Arrange salad at the top of the plate.
Drizzle the reduced balsamic across the plate for presentation.
Seagrass, mid-level, Southgate, Southbank. Ph: 9696 7655

Maurice Esposito’s baby snapper in cartoccio
1 baby snapper (500-600g for two)
2 cloves garlic
2 baby fennel
2 leaves lemon myrtle
20ml of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Heat barbecue or oven to 250C.Combine garlic, fennel and lemon myrtle. Place the mix in the cavity of the fish. Pour oil on the fish and season with salt and pepper. Wrap it in greaseproof paper and then foil. Staple to seal. Cook on the barbecue with the lid on (or in the oven) for about 15min.
To test that the fish is done, stick a skewer into the thickest part of the flesh. If it comes out warm, it is cooked. Serve with a cos salad.
Esposito at Toofey’s, 162 Elgin St, Carlton. Ph: 9347 9838