SeaSalt Restaurant tips on cooking fish, squid and prawns

Sunshine and swimwear are such symbols of our national identity. So are the beach and barbecue. So here’s some tips on bringing the two together.

Imagine, for a minute, if Australia Day fell in the middle of winter rather than the hottest time of the year.

People would all be rugged up in woolly coats and beanies, celebrating the day at the footy perhaps, or staying indoors with the heater on.

It just doesn’t seem right. Sunshine and swimwear are such symbols of our national identity. So are the beach and barbecue.

From the kitchen at SeaSalt, where he tosses local king prawns and squid on to a charcoal grill, chef Chris Robinson can look out over the jetty and deep blue Gulf waters at Henley Beach.

He realises how fortunate he is to have such a workplace – particularly having come from a long stint tending the monster grill at Gaucho’s in the city.

“We are looking at a sparkling sea during the day or an amazing sunset each night,” Chris says. “And, if time permits, we can chuck our boardies on and go for a swim during our break. I don’t know of too many other places cooking in the world where you could do that.”

The recently upgraded Henley Square is already having a bumper summer and Chris predicts Australia Day will be huge at SeaSalt.

The team from SeaSalt restaurant enjoys sunshine and sea breezes at Henley Beach. Picture: Matt Turner

On the side, a takeaway window dispenses battered fish and boxes of chips to keep the tribe well fuelled. A seat on the front deck, under the candy-stripe umbrellas, is the perfect place to unwind with a cold beverage, perhaps accompanied by a nibble of fritto misto or the newly introduced chips with a bisque-style crab gravy.

Inside, as the breeze comes in through open louvres, settle into diner-style booths for a longer graze that could include smoked kingfish salad , whole fried nannygai with black pepper sauce and savoury doughnuts, sardine “bolognese” or the simple pleasure of fried gar fillets.

With those themes of beach and barbecue in mind, there is no better way to mark Australia Day than sitting down with family and friends for a seafood feast.

And grilling some of the wonderful bounty that comes from local waters at home can have brilliant results.

“We have some of the best, if not the best seafood in the world, with the cold water and plenty of nutrients,” Chris says. “And we’re lucky enough to get all those things very fresh.”

Cooking seafood takes just a little bit of extra care than more robust red meats.

 

Fish

Roasted flathead with Singapore style chilli sauce. Picture: Matt Turner

A whole roasted or grilled fish makes a terrific centrepiece for the table. While Chris has used a flathead caught off the Eyre Peninsula, he says a small snapper or nannygai could also work well.

“A whole fish is a great way to feed people and works really well on a barbecue,” he says.

“It cooks better (than fillets) and makes for a better presentation. You get more flavour. The meat near the bone is beautiful and sweet. And it holds the moisture better.”

Chris suggests scoring the fish by cutting through the flesh to the bone every few centimetres, so the heat and flavour can penetrate and speed up the cooking process. “It will also leave a nice pattern and make the flesh easier to remove in portions,” he says.

The fish can be roasted in the oven but will have an extra hint of smokiness if done in a hooded barbecue or grilled on a low heat (use a fish cage).

To tell if the fish is cooked, cut a small incision behind the head in the thickest part of the fish.

“If you have lost that transparent rawness and the knife goes easily to the bone, it
is cooked,” Chris says.

“And you are better to leave it slightly undercooked, as it will continue to cook through from the residual heat even after it is removed from the grill.”

Chris douses the flathead in a Singapore-style chilli sauce. “It has a decent kick,” he says, “but you can customise it to suit your taste by reducing the Sriracha sauce or the number of chillies. Of course, you can also add more birdseyes if you want.”

Alternatively, Chris suggests, accompany the fish with Mediterranean flavours such as lemon, olives and rosemary.

Squid

Chargrilled calamari with yuzukosho and garlic shoots. Picture: Matt Turner

For so long the poor cousin of our seafood bounty, squid now commands a price to rival more prestigious choices.
And why not? Fresh squid tube, simply grilled or fried and served with a wedge of lemon, is a joy to behold.

At the time of our interview, Chris says he is staring at 120kg of fresh squid in his kitchen, ready to clean for the days ahead.

Fresh local calamari is nothing like the frozen product from parts unknown that is served in some places.

“It is two different worlds,” Chris says. “Our squid is so sweet and clean tasting. Particularly off the grill, you can almost just cook it on one side and hit it with a squeeze of lemon.”

The easiest way to clean squid, Chris laughs, is to get someone else to do it.

Failing that, put down some paper to catch any mess, pull away the head and the transparent bone inside and, most often, the gut, ink sac and other gloop will come out with it.

Peel off the thin exterior membrane and remove wings … if squid is really fresh the membrane can stay on.

While SeaSalt has a Japanese grill with special charcoal for an extra-clean burn, a barbecue will be fine.

The squid will only take a couple of minutes to cook and Chris suggests also grilling greens such as garlic shoots, beans or asparagus, as well as a few lemon halves.

His dressing uses the Japanese condiment yuzukosho, a fermented paste made from yuzu, chilli and salt.

“It is salty, tangy, hot – the perfect foil for the squid,” he says.

Accompany all this with a Pirate Life IPA and all will be good with the world.

Prawns

Chargrilled spencer gulf prawns with salted egg yolk butter. Picture: Matt Turner

The king prawns caught in the state’s gulf waters are some of the best in the world, with sweet, springy meat that loves the grill.

“I lived in the US for five years and the shrimps they have there don’t come close,” Chris says.

Chris is on a mission to convince people to grill prawns in their shells – and to try eating them whole, shell and head included. “That’s where the flavour is,” he says. “We try to encourage people to get their hands dirty and get stuck into it and eat everything.”

Even if you don’t eat the shell, it will help protect the flesh from drying out and transfer some of its taste while on the grill.

Chris removes the tube that runs down the back of the prawn and then butterflies them to
cook quickly.

He serves them with a salted egg yolk butter.

“The richness and saltiness of the butter work well with the sweetness of the prawn,” he explains.

“The yolk helps to enrich it and some lemon juice cuts through.”

SeaSalt, 269 Seaview Rd, Henley Beach, 8465 5005, seasaltbysea.com.au