Q. Where does your seafood come from?
A. Majority of our seafood are sourced from Australia.
Oysters this year are in short supply but we have managed to secure our supply from South Australia Coffin Bay, Lower Eyre Peninsula, and Tasmania generally around Pipeclay Bay, on the S.E coast.
Conway oysters are shucked daily.
Crayfish is sourced from King Island, Tasmania. They are flown in daily especially during the busy Christmas period.
Tiger Prawns from Gulf of Carpentaria, King Prawns are from Exmouth, West Australia, Framed Prawns from Queensland.
Nearly all wild prawns are frozen on board trawlers and we usually receive them raw, but unlike most other fishmongers, we have the facilities to cook prawns.
Q. I am expecting my seafood delivery on the 23 rd December, will it still be fresh by Christmas Day?
Seafood has a shelf life of 3 - 5 days so they should stay fresh for Christmas.
Once you receive your delivery, unwrap, place in a glass container and throw a damp tea towel over them (particularly Crays, prawns and oysters) and wrap with Gladwrap. It’s important to drain as much of the excess water as possible. Store in the coldest part of the fridge. Below 4 degrees Celsius is a must or lower. Alternatively, you can purchase special containers that come intact with grate. This has the effect of elevating the seafood off the excess water.
Conway Fish highly recommends rinsing all your seafood under cold water to remove grit.
Q. How to cook fish?
Most important tip, don’t overcook fish.
Frying Fish – Cook fish skin side down for around 80% of the time spent on the frying pan to ensure fish is nice and crisp on the outside but doesn’t dry out the flesh inside. Remember, once off the heat the fish will keep on cooking.
Bake – Whole fish and or fillets cook really well in the oven or on the BBQ. Buying whole fish is generally cheaper than fillets. Most of our whole fish are gutted and scaled.
Steaming/Grilling –Is a very healthy cooking method alterna. Try using oil instead of butter and instead of salt use a variety of herbs and spices, garlic or lemon.
A good tip while planning meals is to allow approximately 180 - 200 grams of raw seafood (flesh only) per person ( or 600 grams for a family of four). Two plate size whole fish will adequately feed family of four.
Q. How do you shuck Oysters?
When shucking oysters, protect yourself by using a towel. Get a special shucking knife, place the tip of the knife at the base, twist the knife firmly and then lever the knife slowly upwards opening the oyster gently.
Q. How do you peel a prawn?
Hold the body firmly just behind the head then twist off the head. Pull back the legs removing the centre section of the shell in the same motion. Squeeze the tail segment and gently pull out the flesh. Gently, using your fingertips, pry the shell off the main body of the prawn. Remember to slit the spine in the middle removing the black thread (digestive tract or vein).
As a general guide, 1kg of prawns in the shell provides about 20-24 medium to large prawns, which yields about 500g of peeled prawn meat.
Q. How sustainable is Australian seafood?
Far the large part, Australian seafood is sustainable as it is subjected to highly restrictive and highly scrutinised quota limits. From the manager of the Sydney Fish Market.. Bryan Skeeper
“Australian fisheries are regarded internationally as being amongst the best managed in the world. Our fisheries management system that's in place has rigorous scientific underpinning to it, and internationally we're regarded as being amongst the top four in the world as to our fisheries management programs.”
Imported seafood is also subjected to very strict quarantine laws and requirements as set out by AQIS. Be assured that all imported seafood is very safe.
And finally all of us here at Conway Fish would love to Wish you a very Fishy Christmas and Briny New Year!
Leave a comment