Barramundi
Hong Kong steams a grouper, grass carp or sea bass killed to order; Australia's everyday steaming fish, there all year at a steady price, is farmed barramundi, sold whole at plate size, 500 g to 1 kg, at supermarket counters and Asian fishmongers. It is thick through the shoulder, so butterfly it or cut two deep slashes to the bone, or the tail is done while the spine is raw.
Cautions: read first
- Fish is a mandatory-declaration allergen in Australia; steam until the flesh lifts from the bone and the bone is white, not pink.
Preparation
Clean and dry; butterfly or slash twice; 600 g steams 8 minutes, 900 g 10 to 12.
Origin
Farmed in the Northern Territory and Queensland; also wild. Coles and Woolworths seafood counters and every Asian fishmonger. A tag that does not say Australian is imported and thawed, and steams soft and watery. Other steaming fish: snapper, silver perch, bream, and at the top end coral trout, pearl perch and Murray cod.
Availability in Australia
Easy to find
Where · Supermarket counters and every Asian fishmonger
What to ask for · Plate-size barramundi, scaled and gutted; the tag must say Australian
If it is not there · Snapper, silver perch, bream; for guests coral trout, pearl perch or Murray cod
