Big Bold & Beautiful ...WA Dhufish - Dhufish Recipes

I might be opening up a can of worms by saying that, but my experience in cooking and eating dhufish has proved this to me. Even people living on the eastern seaboard concede that the dhuey is the tastiest fish caught in Australian waters.

Its flesh when cooked perfectly is delicate in flavour, white and moist and flakes away ever so easily on your fork.

As the name suggests, WA dhufish are only found in WA waters and feed primarily on a diet of small fish, crabs, octopus and cuttlefish - small wonder then that they taste so damn good!

When cooking with such a delicately flavoured fish as dhuey, there is no need to overpower it with strong accompanying ingredients.

A piece of fresh fillet, simply grilled or pan fried with a touch of sea salt, white pepper and a generous squeeze of lemon juice is manna from heaven. When matched up with some creamed potato and artichoke mash, crispy iceberg lettuce, finely chopped dill and organic vine-ripened tomatoes that actually have flavour, it will do me for lunch any day.

Other parts of the dhufish, such as the wings, can also be put to good use as you can see from the accompanying recipe for barbecued dhufish wings ‘Down South' style.

Commercial landings of dhufish captures are quite small with statistics showing a 1995-96 catch of 185 tonnes, worth around $1.7 million.

Hapuku fish is another ocean delicacy that is a pleasure to cook, serve and eat. Hapuku are caught on droplines at depths of between 200-450 metres in and around the continental shelf from Rottnest Island to Sydney. The flesh of the hapuku is moist and reasonably firm, although a little blander than dhufish so it can take some spicing up in the cooking stakes.

Hapuku can weigh up to 50kg and attain a length of one to five metres with the female of the species being larger than the males. The name hapuku reflects its Maori origin but the fish is also known under various other names including hapuka, longnose hapuka and New Zealand groper.

Following is a recipe for a coriander crusted hapuku, served with new season Vasse asparagus. Enjoy a glass of a fruity, crisp sauvignon blanc or semillon with this dish.

Coriander Crusted Hapuku over fresh Asparagus with a Mango, Papaya Salsa and Lemon Verbena Beurre Blanc

The Fish

Lightly pan fry fillets of fresh hapuku (or any other sweet, firm, white-fleshed fish) in clarified butter to seal. Spread liberally with coriander pesto (see separate recipe) and place under grill until crust is brown and fish is cooked.

Place on fresh, lightly steamed asparagus. Top with deep fried julienne of leeks and serve with lemon verbena sauce.

Lemon Verbena Sauce

Gently sweat half a finely diced spanish onion with 1 clove of crushed garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Add 50ml of white wine vinegar and reduce by half.

Add 200ml good white wine (we use Leeuwin Estate ‘Art Series' chardonnay). Reduce by two thirds.

Add 50ml of cream and 6 crushed lemon verbena leaves, bring to boil, remove from heat and stir in 200g of unsalted butter.

Ready to Serve.

Coriander Pesto

500g ground almonds
400g grated parmesan cheese
8 cloves crushed garlic
200ml olive oil
200g fresh coriander
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt & pepper

Blend in food processor ground almonds, grated parmesan cheese and crushed garlic, add olive oil, lemon juice, fresh coriander, salt and pepper until combined.

Tropical Mango and Papaya Salsa

2 mangoes peeled, pitted and diced
1 small papaya (pawpaw), peeled, pitted and diced
3 firm red tomatoes, diced
Juice of 1 lemon
½ tsp chilli powder or cayenne or 1 small fiery chilli, finely diced
1 small knob ginger (size of five cent piece) peeled and finely chopped
Touch of sea salt
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Gently combine all ingredients and refrigerate. Can be made a couple of hours before serving.

Barbecued Dhufish Wings ‘Down South'

Ingredients

(serves 6-8)

2 medium sized wings
6 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbls crushed ginger
1 tbls chopped chilli
1 tbls chopped ginger
½ cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Splash of Thai style clear fish sauce
Splash of sweet lemon myrtle chilli sauce (optional)
Pinch of pepper
Couple of coriander sprigs
½ cup white wine

Method

Trim off excess white skin sinew on wings. Combine ingredients and brush over both sides of wings. Leave to marinate for 2 hours.

Grill on hot plate, medium heat, for around 5 minutes a side. This dish can also be finished in an oven.

To Serve

Pour the remains of the marinade juices over the fish and garnish with coriander leaves and sliced spring onions. An excellent garnish, which also nicely balances the texture of the fish, can be made tossing thinly cut (julienne) carrot, leak, celery and capsicum in a wok with a little soy sauce and orange juice.

Wine to Match

The richness and complexity of a lightly wooded chardonnay will complement the texture and moisture of the meat around the dhufish wings.