Secret To Preparing Quality Seafood
Successful preparation of delicious seafood begins with some fundamental knowledge of how and where to select the right ingredients.
For many home cooks, seafood is the last frontier in terms of being comfortable to cook on a regular basis. There are many reasons for this, but in my experience it mostly stems from poor experiences with less-than-stellar products — overly fishy flavours, slimy product, and the definite risk of leaving a stench in the house for days to come are all definite turn-offs.
The ability to select quality sustainable seafood is the first step in being able to enjoy first rate seafood at home, especially if you can’t get out to catch it for yourself.
Firstly, I would recommend becoming at least vaguely familiar with the types of species that are likely to be Australian or New Zealand caught, and sustainably harvested. To help, I recommend the GoodFish app, which I use from time to time to cross reference the fish we use in the restaurant with their sustainability, and to identify species and regions to be avoided.
Finding a reputable supplier is key, whether it be a trusted local fishmonger who you develop a relationship with, or a larger retail outlet like the Sydney Fish Market. We’re fortunate at Manta to have our sister business, a fish co-op in Port Stephens. We buy a lot of our produce directly off the boats on the day they come in, which makes delivering a great product that much easier.
Once you’ve found your supplier, there are a few easily identifiable markers to look for when assessing the quality of the product. In whole fish, their eyes should be clear, the body firm and plump, and the gills bright red.
A fishy smell of any kind is never a good sign of freshness.
Certain deepwater species such as blue-eye trevalla and hapuka will have a layer of slime coating their scales, but this is completely normal.
In fillets, they should be dry without being dried out, firm and smell very clean — strong odours are a definite warning sign.
There’s no shame in not wanting to fillet fish at home. It’s messy, and can be daunting if you’re not confident, and don’t have sharp knives. I’m also yet to come across a home kitchen that’s well suited for breaking down whole fish without leaving a mammoth clean-up job and a smell for days to come. Ask your fishmonger to do it for you, and so long as they’re dry-filleting (i.e. not washing the fish in water as they process it, which speeds up the decomposition process and can wash out the flavour), you’re on track for a good time.
I try to buy Australian or NZ products for a few reasons. Firstly, they’re more likely to be fresh, and the fisheries of both countries are well managed compared to some of the exploited fisheries of the Pacific, so you can buy with a clean conscience. Also, utilising the bounty of what’s around you makes more sense to me than buying frozen imports that are usually of lesser quality.
Lastly, when you’re buying seafood it’s well worth looking at some alternative and lesser-known species. There are many more delicious fish in the sea than the typical snapper, barramundi, and tuna. For example, a beautiful fresh bonito rivals the far more expensive various tuna species, and a humble silver trevally makes sashimi that I believe is better than yellowtail kingfish.
Of course, if you’re looking to go premium, it’s hard to go past something like a toothfish, which is a mainstay on the Manta menu, or a species like Murray cod (now sustainably farmed), which is beginning to assume a rightful place at the top of the list of the best species available in this country.
Once you’ve managed to get your fish home, the next phase begins — cooking (or not cooking as the case may be). If you’ve selected well, the battle is already halfway won, so stay tuned for some tips on the next stage in a future issue.