Tag: barramundi

Fish of the week: Barramundi

Fish of the week: barramundi!

We have been getting these beautiful barramundi fillets from the Sydney fish market.  They are really big and one is enough for a family of up to six people. When  I go to the fish market, I bring a big esky bag and choose fish to freeze and stock for a month.  The choice is not completely out of random but neither is it a planned thing.  It is the second time that I buy those large barramundi fillets, they are a treat really, but what a nice one!

Today, I am sharing a dinner menu and fish recipe from the last couple days.

The Menu (dinner)

Entree – Soft goat cheese and grana padano souffle

Main – Barramundi fillets on a bed of soft onions and brussels sprouts, served with green asparagus and hollandaise sauce and side salad

Dessert – Fruit (mandarin)

The souffles were beautiful, they rose so high! And of course collapsed afterwards!  The barramundi was delicious and with the Brussel sprouts and other greens a great combination.

Cooking  the barramundi

Did I have a recipe? No.  I don’t for those types of last minute dinner challenge.  This time I somehow managed to get a semi-passable photo of the dish before my plate become cold and the dish got eaten, so finally a recipe of a savoury dish!

barramundi fish fillet

Barramundi marries very well with lemon flavours and either on of the following: four spices, coriander ground, nutmeg.

Underneath the fish, I placed seven brussels sprouts cut very thinly, half of an onion cut very thinly, 2 garlic cloves cut thinly, 15 g of butter and a cup of water.  I salted the fish on both sides and when the butter was melted, placed the fish on top, added the juice of one lemon, a few small heads of parsley, a dusting of all spices mix and reduced the heat and covered to let cook slowly.

It took about 20 minutes to cook. In the meanwhile, I was frantically getting the asparagus steamed and the hollandaise sauce (also quite lemony) prepared.

For the full recipe, click HERE.

Grilled Barramundi fillets

A good fish is very good with minimum dressing.  barramundiA previous time, I simply seasoned it with salt, a dash of olive oil and coriander grounds on top and placed it under the grill.

Next time I will use something else than baking paper as a support…regardless it was also delicious.

Enjoy Barramundi!

Barramundi fillet on a bed of greens

Barramundi fillet on a bed of greens

I love a large family dish to share. This is a perfect one for dinner.  Add a green salad to it if you are a bit more hungry.

Serves 6.

Ingredients:
  • a 750 g fillet of barramundi
  • 7 brussels sprouts
  • 2 bunches of green asparagus
  • half a large white onion
  • 15 g butter
  • Mixed spice ground (basically all spice and nutmeg mix)
  • parsley

For the (quick) hollandaise sauce:

  • 1 full egg and 1 egg yolk
  • 50 g butter
  • 3 tablespoons of just boiled water
  • juice of one lemon
  • Salt and pepper
Method:
  1. Trim the base of the brussels sprouts and cut thinly.  Similarly peel the onion and cut thinly.
  2. In a large deep bottom pan, place the butter and melt, add 1 cup of water, the onion and the Brussel sprouts.
  3. In the meanwhile salt each side of the fillet.
  4. One the water shows a little boil, place the fish on top, squeeze a lemon. Dust a little mixed spices on top and the few heads of parsley.
  5. Cover and reduce heat to half, cook gently for  minutes.
  6. While the fish is cooking, snap the bottom part of the asparagus, discard them.  Steam the asparagus until bright green and just tender.
  7. For the hollandaise, use a small size thick based saucepan and a whisk. Melt the butter in the saucepan.  Mix the egg and egg yolk with the hot water in a bowl.  Keep mixing and add the melted butter (away from the stove) and lemon juice.  Sometimes the heat of the butter is sufficient to make the sauce thicken without placing back in the saucepan and on low fire.  If this is the case, complete the seasoning adding salt and pepper.  Otherwise, place back in the saucepan and on a very low fire, whisk continuously until the sauce starts to thicken. Transfer immediately back to the bowl and season to taste.
  8. When the fish is cooked through (insert a skewer or a pointy knife through the flesh, pull aside gently, it should come apart with no effort), place the pan in the middle of the dinning table with the asparagus and the hollandaise sauce.

barramundi fish fillet