What’s on the chew?

I just love that term. A term every fisherman knows and so often the first question we ask when we walk in the tackle shop door or bump into a mate we know is a fisho. A bit of calm weather and smaller tides last week were an ideal time to get to the reef. Typically the smaller tides mean less current flow and make the deep-water shoals far easier to fish for species like Nannygai, Red Emperor and Coral Trout. These are all premium fish and need little or nothing beyond a simple buerre blanc or lime hollandaise to top of piece of grilled or pan fried perfection.

Another deep water fish, about which much debate rages as to whether this is a local or an invader is a fish called Indonesian Snapper. These fish are currently the subject of a JCU study to help determine this question but these are small fish, ideally suited to cooking whole. We score them; rub them with a mix of salt, pepper and cornflower before plunging them into a deep fryer for 2 minutes, followed by 10 minutes in the oven at 180C. A wonderfully flavoursome little fellow, of which we sell literally 100’s.

And the humble flathead. Caught in good numbers in early winter (yes I know it is still hot…but OUR winter). If you look in the Asian section of the supermarket you will find things called “Panko Crumbs”, a very course white Japanese bread crumb which are amazingly crunchy when cooked. Add some chopped parsley and some dry grated parmesan cheese to the crumb mix for a bit of extra zing.