Show day Snapper

A fish more famous in South Australia, Port Philp Bay and along the NSW coast also makes a very brief but welcome appearance in the waters off Mackay and the Southern Whitsundays during the middle of winter (yes we do have a winter) when temperatures plunge to a chilling 23 degrees during the day and water temperature drops to about the same. Typically this is around Mackay Show day, also called “Snapper day” by Mackay fishos and this show day had a tiny window of calmer weather and presented an opportunity for me to catch this “bucket list” fish. A mate and I towed a boat to Hay Point, leaving Airlie at 3.30am and launching at just on daylight we fished the shipping leads out to a few miles off-shore and came up trumps with a beautiful pink snapper. A great thrill, great fish and hard earned with us having little or no local knowledge. Our local commercial fishers must have also taken advantage of the brief weather window as a few showed up at the markets on Friday which were a very welcome addition to our weekend specials list. Some fish, such as Coral trout have a very gelatinous rubbery skin and are best served as skinned fillets, or at least the skin heavily scoured. Snapper however have a very thin skin which does not “curl up” when cooked and makes and ideal candidate to cook skin side down in a hot pan with a splash of olive oil and ghee.

 * Chefs tip. Ghee is “clarified butter”, butter with the milk solids removed. You will find it usually in the Asian foods section of the supermarket, rather than the butter section and it, unlike butter, does not need to be refrigerated. Ghee does not burn like butter but still brings the best of the butter flavour to fish. A 50/50 mix of olive oil and ghee brings a wonderful flavour to pan fried or grilled fish without the risk of the unpleasant “burnt butter” taste and colour.

The skin goes beautifully crisp and crunchy, protecting the delicate white flesh underneath and the very limited season for these wonderful fish make them a real favourite with our regulars. Our chef’s last night pan fried the fillets, “crispy skinned”, served it with a roasted baby beetroot salad, dressed with beetroot yoghurt and topped the fish with a tomato chilli jam. The sweetness of the beetroot offset by the spice and tartness of the chilli jam all up made a memorable dish. If you see any of this fresh in the local markets do not hesitate to try some. Don’t leave it till “next time”, because next time will be next June. As for me, I have scratched a fishing ‘itch” and while I won’t tow a boat all the way to Mackay again in a hurry there are a few secret spots around Cape Conway and Shaw Island, where, rumour has it!!!!!

Windy weather and new toys

It has been "blowin" for what seems like weeks on end. The winds the sailors love but fishermen hate. Steady 20 t0 30 knot winds, day in and day out with a just a few small windows of 10 to 15's so opportunities have been limited and the fish few and far between. The down time however is often spent "messing around in boats". Our cruiser has been out of the water for annual refit (AKA Shave and a haircut) and I have just fitted up a new creek/barra boat and fitted a Hummingbird sounder with a "side scan" feature. WOW. Just about the biggest advance in fish finding I have ever seen. While I have only had a chance to potter around the marina for a bit of a test run the images available on the side scan are almost like watching TV. The detail is so great I could clearly make out a shopping trolly off the end of the pontoon and see the tracks made by the keels of yachts running across areas a bit too shallow at low tide. Every pole, pontoon, bucket on the bottom and yes...plenty of what were clearly barramundi. This unit will be dynamite in the rivers once the water warms up and when we tow the little boat out to the reef as a tender I can see it being fantastic for scouting coral bombies looking for coral trout. I intend to take a few screen shots as I come to terms with the proper settings but think this sounder may be an absolute revolution in my continuing passion to find, catch and ultimately cook the best of our local fish.

Tuna Tales

We see 5 species of Tuna regularly in the Whitsundays. 3 of these pretty much restricted to the outer barrier reef and 2 “inshore” species. The outer reef fish, Dog Tooth Tuna, Big Eye Tuna and yellowfin are a by-catch of the commercial fisho who supplies us with Spanish Mackerel and are line caught. The dog Tooth Tuna (really a member of the Bonito family) is my absolute favourite of the big tuna but one we see only a few of each year. The 2 inshore tuna include a fish called mackerel Tuna (so named because of the mackerel like pattern on its back and pretty much inedible) and the Northern Bluefin or more correctly “Longtail Tuna”. This is a favourite sportfish for recreational anglers and turns up in quiet good numbers amongst the grey mackerel schools and the commercial fishos we use get them in small but regular numbers across the entire winter grey mackerel season. Not too many years ago these were just considered vermin or at best crab bait but as we have come to understand how to handle tuna (thanks to japan) we have come to appreciate just how good Longtail Tuna is on the plate. Sensational as sashimi but my favourite is to just coat a thick piece of tuna loin in beaten egg and roll in a mix of finely chopped fresh herbs (parsley, basil and dill) and then pan fry in a really hot non-stick pan for just a minute or so on each side, and slice rare to medium rare over a bed of steaming hot ratatouille or a Moroccan chick pea tagine. It has the texture of wagu eye fillet and the most delicious subtle tuna flavour.

Routinely over my years fishing I would drive past schools of feeding tuna on route to my favourite mackerel spot. Not anymore. These fish are highly visible at times, herding schools of baitfish to the surface and feeding in a foaming mass of white water, slashing diving fish and usually screeching gulls that also join the frenzy. A small heavy metal (tuna slug “lure”) cast into the middle of the carnage and wound back flat chat usually results in an instant hook up, followed by a line burning run, screaming drag on the reel and 10 to 15 minutes of heart pumping action landing the fish. These are red fleshed and need to be bled straight away and plunged into an ice slurry to maximize their eating potential but when done right, they are amazing fish.

Part of the reason tuna is so expensive is the very poor “return” (fillet to waste ration). In the case of Long tail tuna and 5 kilo fish will return only 1.3kgs of usable fish (due in part to the dark bloodline which runs down the lateral line. It means a 5kg fish I pay about $60 for, yields fillets which cost us close to $50 a kilo…but it is worth it. We even have a “call list” in the restaurant of regulars who want a phone call whenever we have fresh tuna delivered.

If you ever see it on our menu, try it. You will become an instant convert and if you catch one yourself it can be as simple as a hot BBQ plate, a little olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon but ALWAYS under cook this fish.

Mack & the Knife

As you can image I get to fillet a LOT of fish. Some are hard work and some are a joy and my all-time favourite to fillet (and one of the best to eat) is a Spanish Mackerel. The number of times I have to explain to guests that, No, it is not imported from Spain, it is a great local fish. There are 2 varieties, a narrow barred Spanish and a broad barred Spanish, more commonly called a Grey Mackerel and they are abundant, particularly during winter and form the basis of North Queensland better “fish and chip” trade.

The larger of the 2 species, the narrow barred Spanish mackerel is one the great fish to use in a number of ways. A firm white and finely flaky flesh it is a little drier than some tropical fish which makes it a perfect fish to batter of crumb as a “fish and chip” fish and has been our go to fish since day 1 in the restaurant. The other great way to have this, and a fish dish that would be my “last meal” fish dish is a mackerel steak. Simply cut straight though with just the back bone left and treated like a steak on a char grill. Because this is cut “across the grain” it need to be seared hot and quickly to seal in the moisture and the flavour of fresh mackerel off a char grill is literally North Queensland on a plate.

I have just finished a 2 hour filleting session on Mackerel, Barramundi and some beautiful local long tall tuna and the macks make it all so easy. Fillet the big ones for fish and chips and steak the medium size fish for the menu. Yum.

All hail the King!

King salmon that is. No not the “orange stuff”. I remember well the first time I ever saw “real” salmon in about 1984. Australia has no true salmon. Both the Atlantic Salmon which we now know so well and its cousins brown and rainbow trout are introduced species and the Atlantic Salmon, fish farmed in Tasmania, has become a staple of so many restaurant menus that, particularly younger diners take it for granted and think it has been around forever. In fact pre the early 80’s “salmon” meant something entirely different. We have 3 native fish, which were and still are called ‘Salmon” >the best is a fish caught across northern Australia and one we feature regularly. Its true name is Threadfin Salmon or King Salmon and while not a true “Salmon” it was called Salmon by the early settlers because it does look a bit “salmonoid”. The name “threadfin” comes from the extended barbells under its chin (does a fish have a chin?) which it uses to heard prawns and little fish in the shallows were it feeds. This is amazing fish, both to catch and eat and most locals who know this fish prefer it to barramundi. Glossy white, juicy and very soft, fine grained flesh it is ideal to crumb or pan fry but never to use in a curry our soup. If you every see it in our window, give it a try. We only use it when we get it fresh as it is not a fish to freeze and we call it “King Threadfin” because we get too many guests saying to staff, “This isn’t salmon, it’s supposed to be pink”.

How are your stress levels?

This photo of a mate, sits in my photo file and is from one of our annual “boy’s get-a-ways” to Weipa on the tip of Cape York. Some of us have been going there since 1988 and at present our current team have had 11 years in a row on the same houseboat. The trip has become less about the fishing and more about the food, the comradery and the de-stressing as every one of us are  operating our own businesses with all that modern life has to throw at us. I look at this photo often when the pressure is building and at present the clock is ticking, In 12 more days I am off the Weipa.

Update. Just back home after a week away..and yes, the stress levels are down but my liver is rejecting me!!

Our beautiful Barramundi and my kids

That's my girl!

Literally...barramundi on a plate at Fish D'Vine

Every dad should learn to take his kids fishing. One day they will leave home and that day comes sooner than we ever think. I have 3 beautiful children, all of whom love spending time with the “old man” on the water and this is just precious. One of my twin girls visited the other weekend just for 2 days and the one thing she really wanted to do? Dad, can we go fishing? Time was tight as she had to leave after lunch but time and tides aligned and I promised her a barramundi, in time to have it cleaned and cooked for lunch; and I delivered in spades. This was a lean, solid salt water fish, nothing at all like the spongy, grey frozen and fish farmed fillets at the supermarket (Imported and thawed for your convenience…I hate that term). Bright silver, yellow tailed (Tip: farmed Barra and fresh water Barra have black tails) with lean firm flesh and a bright pink tinge (never grey). There is nothing you need to do to trick up salt water wild caught barramundi. Pan fry with a little salt and pepper, crunchy chips and a wedge of lemon. If you want to “flash it up” try topping with some pesto and fried shaved sweet potato. If you ever get the chance, try farmed Barra and wild caught salt water Barra side by side. It is a textural thing. A farmed fish pretty much sits there getting fat and lazy while a wild fish has to chase and hunt and work for every feed

Mud Crab Mania

These tasty Queensland icons have become as much a part of the restaurant as all the rums in the bar. Our Chinese guests always order them and they have become our signature seafood. Thai Chilli (my own recipe) , Singapore Black Pepper or just the North Queensland staple of cold with fresh bread and butter and an ice cold beer they really are what we are all about.

Our chilli crab recipe is famous and is really a Thai curry style, rather than the traditional chilli crab of Singapore which is tomato based.

Fry some onion, garlic, ginger and chilli in a hot wok. Add some rogan josh curry paste and a couple of Kaffir Lime leaves, pour in some coconut cream, fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and sweet chili sauce and simmer for 20 minutes with some bruised lemon grass stalks.

Toss in some cracked and pre steamed crab, shallot stalks and simmer for just a few minutes before serving over steamed rice. Yumm!

Our local professional crabber recently relocated to Weipa but thankfully the airfreight system is working fine with boxes of beautiful full muddies arriving live every week so supply looks good. Weipa crabs don’t seem to be huge like they are down here from time to time but the whole crabs are packed with flesh and cook up an absolute treat

Lutjanis Biteanatus (Indonesian Snapper) Native or introduced?

Ready to rumble. A sight to make a fisherman's heart beat faster

Research team taking tissue samples. Soon we will know.

Yum!

Yes. They really are THAT easy to catch.

We use a lot of these in the restaurant and they are really a delicious little fish to cook whole. They seem to only grow to about 35 cm and 600 grams and are prolific in many areas of the Whitsundays, but appear to be a newcomer. One theory is that these fish (native to Sumatra) have been carried in within ships ballasts waters and while we just don’t know it may mean this fish is invasive and caught up in regulations which limits the numbers which can be caught by recreational anglers to 5 per trip. It is so prolific it is literally possible to catch 100 in a few hours.

I recently spend time working with a marine biology professor and PHD student from JCU who are trying to get to the bottom of this fishes origin. A very interesting process of sample collection and genetic analysis whereby if the fish all come from a limited gene pool it will mean they are introduced and should be excluded from bag limits. Only one of our suppliers targets these fish so their appeal as a commercial fishery is limited and the bag limits means recreational fishers are giving them a miss as who wants to get out there and all set up only to have to stop fishing 5 minutes later because you have reached the 5 fish bag limit.

Look anywhere around the molle group, Long Island or dent in 40 to 50 meters. You sounder will show blue “fuzz” along the bottom (in the case of the image incuded the Indos are under mackerel)

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.