BARRAMUNDI DREAMING
Barramundi is our national fish - we all know it, yet I wonder how many of us know how best to cook it. I didn't.
So this week I’m going to throw to chef Mitch Orr to give us his recipe for Southern Fried Barramundi. I’ve eaten it, and it’s bloody clever. There’s something about the buttermilk brine that firms up the fish and leaves it buttery and sparkling.
When I bought a couple of thick fillets of barramundi to try it for myself, I changed a few things around, so I’ve bunged my recipe in here, too.
Always make sure your barramundi is Australian. Up to 60% of the barra we buy is imported, which is an absurd kettle of fish. (Mind you, if they really wanted us to ‘ask for Aussie Barra’, they should have called it Bazza.)
Mind you again, if the government was at all interested in protecting Australian farmers, growers and fisherfolk from being undercut in price by imports, they would do something about implementing mandatory Country of Origin Labelling.
GUESS WHAT, BREAKING NEWS: the federal government announced in this week’s Budget that they are committing $1.6M towards doing just that. Go, Bazza!
For more info on barramundi, go to the bible: the Australian Fish and Seafood Cookbook by John Susman, Anthony Huckstep, Stephen Hodges and Sarah Swan. They’ll tell you that barramundi is a member of the sea perch family, and that “it prefers to inhabit the bottom of the sea, river or billabong”.
Hence the label ‘muddy’ that has stuck to barramundi for years, an issue that current farming practices appear to have resolved (as they have with the farming of Murray cod, by raising them up off the bottom). The barra I’ve had recently from places like Cone Bay (where the fish are in sea pens off the Kimberley coast, rather than in ponds) isn’t muddy, but fresh and clean.
Or go direct to the Australian barramundi website, underwritten by top brands such as Humpty Doo (NT), Cone Bay (WA), Daintree Saltwater (Qld), Barramundi Gardens (Qld), Mainstream Aquaculture (Qld/Tas), Sealord King Reef (Qld), Spring Creek (Qld) and Coral Coast (Qld). Stockists are there, also.
Cheat sheet:
Barramundi flesh can be soft, but you can firm it up by salting the fillets overnight prior to cooking.
Leave the skin on when pan-frying, and not only will it crisp like bacon, it will protect the flesh from over-cooking.
The flesh of small plate-sized whole fish is softer than fillets from larger fish, hence not my favourite.
If you can find wings, buy them, they’re nice and gelatinous. Plus, #zerowaste.
Now, allow me to introduce my guest chef, Mitch Orr, from Kiln at the Ace Hotel in Sydney, where he cooks over fire and coals for what appears to be a permanent party crowd. (Terry’s review landed this week on Good Food, here). It’s huge fun, yes, but it’s also genuinely good cooking that’s a bit off to the left and not quite what you’d expect. Classic Mitch.
Mitch is an ambassador for Australian farmed barramundi, and a big fan of steaming barramundi in the Cantonese style with ginger and spring onions, and of grilling the fillets, skin-side down, on the barbecue which he dresses with a desert lime and pepper sauce based on a traditional Khmer/Cambodian condiment.
But it’s the Southern Fried Barramundi that got me. “It’s a little fried chicken and a little seafood boil” he says, “a mix of inspiration from the deep south of the USA.” It’s also a great way to use up the secondary cuts of a whole fish such as tail or wing; otherwise replace with pieces of fillet “Think popcorn chicken vibes”, he suggests.
GUEST CHEF MITCH ORR:
SOUTHERN FRIED BARRAMUNDI, OLD BAY, PICKLED GREEN TOMATOES
Note: Old Bay seasoning is a Maryland blend of celery salt, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, ginger. I didn’t have it, so made up a little blend I’ve used in the past for southern fried chicken instead - garlic or onion powder, sea salt, black pepper and paprika, cayenne too, if you like. You’ll need 2 teaspoons worth.
200g barramundi tail or 2 x 75g barramundi wings
200g corn meal
15g old bay seasoning
500 ml buttermilk
1 lemon
2 green tomatoes
½ bunch dill
1 bunch chives
½ bunch tarragon
100 ml white vinegar
flake sea salt for seasoning
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
500 ml vegetable oil for frying
Serves 2
In an airtight container, place your barramundi tail or wings in the buttermilk and old bay seasoning, ensuring the whole fish is coated.
Marinate in the fridge for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight.
Place cornmeal in a bowl.
Coat the marinated fish in the cornmeal, then place back in the marinade, and finally coat in a second layer of cornmeal. You should end up with a gnarly and uneven crust.
Heat the vegetable frying oil in a heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven to 170 degrees.
Fry the fish for about 5 to 6 minutes, continuously stirring to ensure an even golden crust.
Lift out and place the fish on a cake rack or paper towel to drain any excess oil.
Let it rest for 2 minutes and season with flake salt before serving.
For the green tomato pickle:
Thinly slice the green tomato and place in an airtight container:
Lightly salt the tomato and let it sit for about 5 minutes to break it down and make it soft.
Chop the herbs finely and add to the tomatoes.
Pour over the vinegar and mix well.
Let the pickle sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours to develop the flavour.
For serving, drain the liquid off and toss the pickle in some extra virgin olive oil.
MY TAKE: BARRAMUNDI BITES
I’ve used barra fillets instead of wings, cut them into smaller pieces, coated them in cornmeal (or you could panko) and shallow-fried instead of deep-fried (your call).
2 x 225g barramundi fillets
400 ml buttermilk
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning or your own quick spice blend (eg mix of garlic/onion powder, sea salt, black pepper, paprika, cayenne)
150 g corn meal/polenta or panko crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying
Sea salt and lemon for serving
Run the blade of a long, sharp knife horizontally between fish and skin to separate. Discard skin and cut fish into large bite-sized pieces.
Whisk the spices into the buttermilk, add the barramundi pieces and submerge. Cover and marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
Place cornmeal or panko crumbs in a bowl.
Take each piece of fish from the buttermilk and coat in the cornmeal, then return to the buttermilk to coat once more, and back into the cornmeal to coat a final time. (Mitch says it should look gnarly).
Heat the oil to, say, 2 cm depth in a heavy-based saucepan, and fry two pieces at a time for 2 minutes until golden brown, then flip over and cook for a further 2 minutes, depending on size.
Drain and repeat with remaining pieces. Drain well on paper towel, scatter with sea salt and serve with lemon.
Serve with drinks as a snack for four, and a bowl of sweet chilli yoghurt for dipping (eg 1 tsp XO chilli and 1 tbsp maple syrup whisked into 3 tbsp plain yoghurt).
Serve as dinner for two, with a salad of quick-pickle red onions, feta and parsley in lemon juice and olive oil.
Stuff into soft white bread with a tangy tartare sauce for a banging fish sando, or fold into tacos with Mexican salsa.
Thanks for reading! And thanks to Mitch Orr for sharing. And special thanks to my right-hand man, Terry Durack, for laughing at my Bazza joke.
The title for this newsletter just appeared in my mind, the way titles do, but I now discover that ‘Barramundi Dreaming’, is a story that belongs to the people of the East Kimberley, near Warmun, about the giant barramundi, Daiwul. Which is rather beautiful.
I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about time, folks.