Heres what we put on our seafood platter, a staple on Christmas Day for the RecipeTin Family!
Plus, a video at the Sydney Fish Markets watch me choose the seafood!
A lifetime of eating seafood!
The seafood platter in today’s post was our team lunch!
Australian seafood is incredible, but good quality seafood is not cheap!
Because theres nothing more disappointing than spending hard-earned money on expensive crab only to find it tastes completely bland.
So this post today is essentially our shopping list of what we include on our seafood platter.
THREE RULES WE LIVE BY for tastier seafood*
Always buy Australian.
The less its been frozen, the better.
Avoid pre-packaged* (its stinky).
The seafood platter in today’s post was our team lunch!
Buy fresh from open displays.
- There are some exceptions and explanations to this rule, noted against specific items.
See Seafood Buying Tips section below for more information!
Everything we get is Australian we specifically ensure it is because we know it will be better.
Prawns(pre-cooked) Tiger, king or banana prawns.
Blue swimmer crabs(best over 350g) Pre-cooked.
Alternatively: Spanner crabs, but read crab section below (including king crab & mud crab advice).
For all the above, we only get Australian, and seafood thats undergone as little freezing as possible.
The freshest seafood has never been frozen: caught and sold ideally on the same day.
Left to right: Crispy Salt & Pepper Squid, Marinated Baby Octopus and Mussels
This includes even cooked prawns at the fish markets during Christmas time.
Done properly, excellent seafood quality is still maintained.
But the point is, the less freezing-thawing cycles, the better.
Apple Saladis a staple show-off salad for holidays
Quality degrades with each step!
And by no means will your platter be any less delicious without them!
These are not regulars on our seafood platter.
Crusty Artisan Breadis also a staple!
The cheap grocery store lobsters are rubbish (sorry, but they are).Lobster serving recipeshere.
King crab(~$90/kg) Everybody loves the big meaty crab legs!
While they are sold pre-cooked for convenience, we find the pre-cooked product very hit and miss.
King crab is imported which can also play a part in the variability of quality.
So we stopped buying pre-cooked king crab after too many disappointments for such an expensive food.
Best buy raw legs and cook it yourself.
You dont see often see frozen or cooked mud crab.
Mussels Cooked ahead and served at room temperature (its so great!
look for the purple bag, sold even at regular grocery stores.
Salt and pepper squid 3 years in the making, we finally cracked the perfect salt and pepper squid!
The squid is tender and the batter is light-yet-crispy.
We keep it simple to let the seafood shine!
Also, because Christmas should be about be relaxing not slaving in the kitchen, is our motto.
Crispy Beer Battered Fish and I exaggerate not when I say they arecrispyandstay crispy!
We buy frozen, we love em, and Im not ashamed to tell the world!
For special occasions, we evendeep fry theminstead of baking (OMG I know, youre horrified).
Chinese Honey Prawns OMG YES!!!
Crunchier than youve ever had at any Chinese restaurant, these will blow your mind!
Singapore Chilli Crab A big, giant, statement main.
Whole Baked Fish The dill butter sauce is everything….
Any other seafood or fish recipe heres thefull collection.
Everybody whos tried this sauce loves it!
Its essentially a mash up of Marie Rose Sauce and Tartare sauce with the added freshness from dill.
Its a bit special, and always a hit.
Marie Rose / Thousand Island The classic pink sauce.
Cocktail Seafood Sauce A piquant red sauce that goes heavier on the tomato sauce (ketchup).
Tartare Sauce Its amazing how much better homemade tastes, even using jar mayo.
Our standard choice is the Family Favourite Seafood Sauce plus either Marie Rose or Tartare.
Find all the Seafood Dipping Sauces here.
I warned you I have a lot to say about seafood!!
So in this section, Im delving into more details about each.
The 3 most common varieties are:
Tiger prawns More salty and savoury.
King prawns More of a sweet flavour.
(Youd expect them to be larger, but they arent always!).
As long as they are fresh, the quality is excellent.
You could also buy them raw and boil yourself.
While most tiger and king prawns are locally sourced, imported banana prawns are more common.
Just take note of the display label.
They can be less fresh and stinky, beware!
TOP TIP:Ask for a taste test before you buy!
Moreton Bay bugs the better value lobster
This is one of our gold nugget tips!
We prefer to eat Moreton Bay bugs instead of lobster.
They taste similar to lobster yet are about 70% cheaper at ~$40/kg.
They are more compact in shape, so easier to store too.
They are caught on the northern part of Australias coast, mostly off the coast of Queensland.
Balmain bugs vs Moreton Bay bugs Balmain Bugs are the other species of slipper lobsters sold in Australia.
JB’s classic oyster mignonette sauce recipe is coming soon!
Pacific oysters tend to be larger, with a fleshy, creamy texture.
The flavour is clean and mild.
Sydney Rock Oysters tend to be smaller, sometimes with yellow-tinged flesh and have a meatier mouthfeel.
Blue Swimmer Crabs are our go-to for seafood platters, but make sure they’re large!
The flavour is stronger and more complex than Pacific oysters.
I love both of them!
Merimbula is a Sydney fine-dining favourite source as are Port Stephens and Batemans Bay.
A fresh mud crab forSingapore Chilli Crab.
Boomer Bay is a recent one I tried that I enjoyed as well.
Buy themalready shucked (ie.
opened) and serve with lemon wedges, thats all you need.
Are you brave enough to kiss a live one???
Though, if youd like to try a sauce, 3 of our favourites are coming before Christmas!
Crab
I have a bizarre amount of information to share about crab!
The meat is mostly in the body, which is proportionally large while the claws are small and flat.
King Crab is mostly imported, expensive, and quality is varied…
The crab flesh is deliciously sweet.
However it is quite fine and more crumbly than other crabs.Buy itcooked.
You dont often see it raw.
We recommend giving frozen cooked king crab a miss.
If you want king crab, buy the uncooked legs and cook yourself.
Note that king crab is mostly imported and as a general rule, this can affect reliability of quality.
Excess freezing really seems to degrade the quality of crab.
Mud crab The king of all Aussie crabs!
You rarely see it frozen or pre-cooked.
Cutting crab for serving directions in the recipe card!
Theres even a video.
Sashimi (raw fish)
Yes, we do!
Smoked salmon
A nice easy one to include on the seafood platter.
Everybody loves it, and again, it adds to variety and abundance!
The only smoked salmon I get is Huon Salmon.
I know theres a lot of debate about the sustainability of salmon farming here in Australia.
Cooked mussels
A recent addition to our cold seafood platter: cooked mussels served at room temperature.
The mussels pictured above were cooked usingthis cookbook recipebutthis recipewill also work (similar).
Just remember to dice up the vegetables extra small for an elegant look, like pictured above.
Our favourite brand of mussels is Kinkawooka which are available at grocery stores as well as fish mongers.
Compared to other brands, the mussels are considerably heavier which means they are meatier and juicier.
Lobster (actually, crayfish)
So, heres the thing with lobster.
It is not a regular on our seafood platters.
You are better off using that budget for more prawns.
ChooseAustralian lobster cooked is great (its boiled freshly caught at sea).
Then head over to mylobster recipesto choose one!
We dont have true lobsters here in Australia.
TOP TIPS FOR BUYING & storing SEAFOOD
Here are some tips for buying seafood.
Most seafood loses quality (texture especially but also flavour) when not frozen properly or frozen-then-thawed excessively.
Buy Australian.It might not be the cheapest, but its tastier.
The quality of our fisheries and processors, and proximity to the consumer means a fresher product.
Buy fresh rather than frozen.
Pre-cooked seafoodis excellent and thats what we mostly buy (prawns, crab, Morton bay bugs).
Its boiled at sea soon after being caught to lock in freshness and flavour!
Cheap lobster tastes of nothing been there, done that!!
Instead, buy more prawns.
Buy from fresh seafood displaysrather than pre-packaged.
Its just fresher and better when seafood can breathe and is on display for shoppers to see.
I particularly avoid vacuum-sealed seafood with a shelf life of weeks.
Thats just plain wrong!
The sniff test Its easy to tell if your seafood is fresh: just smell it.
Fresh seafood smells like the ocean.
Prevent screen from sleeping
Not very fresh seafood smells unpleasant and fishy!Before tossing it though, give it a good rinse.
Sometimes, the off smell can just be the juices from poorly packaged or handled seafood.
This is why I prefer buying seafood from open displays rather than pre-packaged.
Never re-freeze seafood thats been previously frozen.you could cook thawed raw seafood, then freeze it.
But should never thaw raw or cooked seafood bought frozen, then freeze it again.
(The exception is seafood that may have been industrially frozen at sea see earlier explanations).
Moisture and lack of air circulation accelerate the spoiling process.
Wrap loosely with cling film.
Why we buy pre-cooked seafood
Our seafood platter is predominantly cold seafood that we purchased already cooked.
But on a day to day basis, I just go to my local fish monger.
Thats just the way I roll.
So you literally pull it out of the fridge, pile it up onto platters then serve!
I can give a little more guidance here, in case youre interested.
Assembling Pile the seafood on the ice, randomly scatter lemon wedges around then nestle in bowls of sauces.
A few sprigs of parsley might also make it onto the platter but thats really going above and beyond.
How else can I help you?
And with that, I think I am done!
Are there any critical things Ive missed?
Is there other seafood youd like to know about?
Such as, lets say, abalone.
A highly prized delicacy here in Australia why doesnt it make our cut, you may be wondering??
(Page 174,Restaurant Worthy Prawn Linguine).
