Just in time for Easter, we’ve collected the best seafood tips from our chefs
For the sweet tooths, Easter might be all about the chocolate. But for other, devout foodies, it’s the fresh seafood that has them counting down to Good Friday. With Australia’s finest catches landing in their kitchens every day, The Star’s chefs know a thing or two about seafood. So, to provide some inspiration for your Easter seafood feasting, we’ve compiled their top tips.
Here’s four ways with seafood according to The Star’s top chefs:
1. Prawns
There’s no denying that we Australians love our prawns. Whether it’s a big bowl of cold prawns; golden, crunchy prawn cutlets; or moreish prawn toast, this versatile seafood is a perennial favourite.
Executive Chef Peter Robertson of Flying Fish is a prawn aficionado. (Need convincing? Get down to The Star Sydney to try Peter’s iconic take on prawn toast). Another menu staple at Flying Fish is Peter’s BBQ Spencer Gulf prawns, which feature this premium sustainable seafood grilled to perfection over the flames. Peter and chef Chris Mcleay from the Gold Coast’s Garden Kitchen & Bar are both big fans on throwing a prawn on the barbie, and took a moment to share their top tips on how to BBQ prawns. As a bonus, they also offered some of their favourite prawn marinades.
2. Oysters
Oysters – love them or loathe them, there’s no sitting on the fence with this seafood delicacy. If you’re one of the converted, executive chef Uday Huja is your guy. At Nineteen at The Star, you can have your oysters roasted over the coals with bacon and BBQ sauce, embark on an Oyster Journey to taste the best fresh oysters from around Australia or even enjoy oysters for breakfast.
When it comes to sourcing oysters, there’s no substitute for quality. As Uday and Peter Robertson of Flying Fish can tell you, the flavour profile of an oyster depends on many factors including its species, environment and cultivation. These two experts gave us the lowdown on the best Australian oysters – including how and when to eat them – so you’ll always know what you’re looking for.
When you have top-quality oysters, Uday and Peter agree you don’t need to do much to them. With Peter’s thorough guide on how to buy, store and prepare oysters and Uday’s simple tips for how to prepare oysters, a little additional care will help you deliver out-of-this-world oysters.
3. Fish
Chef Chase Kojima’s started learning the art of preparing seafood from his father, who ran one of San Francisco’s best Japanese restaurants. It’s a skill he has honed to a knife’s edge as head chef of Sokyo in Sydney and Kiyomi at The Star Gold Coast. Chase can often be found at dawn at Sydney Fish Market down the road from The Star Sydney, sourcing fish pulled from the ocean mere hours before. Of course, when you have access to fish this fresh, it’s worth treating it right.
Chase, like most of our chefs, never buys fillets of fish; it’s whole fish all the way. If you’re new to whole fish cooking, scaling can seem like a daunting, smelly task. But with Chase’s top tips for how to scale a fish, it’s no muss no fuss. Next, Chase is partial to a salt brine, which allows you to infuse the entire fish with flavour. Chase’s super-simple fish seasoning method will help you serve up seafood worthy of a pro.
If you’d like to get a spectacular fish dish on the table in half the time, you can’t go past the BBQ. Chef Uday Huja of Nineteen at The Star and Peter Robertson from Flying Fish Sydney are both partial to flame grilling a piece of fish, and each have their own technique for how to barbecue fish. With the right fish and a hot grill, you can be enjoying a perfectly cooked fish in minutes.
4. Lobster
How do you lobster? From retro-chic lobster thermidor to the decadent simplicity of cold lobster dipped in a homemade mayonnaise, this luxury seafood is a consistent showstopper. Lobster is the centrepiece of a number of menus across The Star’s three properties and our chefs love showing off their skills with it.
However lobster can sadly go from divine to disaster in the hands of an inexperienced cook. Lucky, then, that some of our best chefs were happy to share their tips for how to cook lobster. Chef Dayan Hartill-Law has been known to plate up indulgent lobster pasta at Cucina Vivo at The Star Gold Coast, and kindly also shared his lobster linguini recipe so you can try if for yourself. For a classic, look no further than the lobster mornay recipe from Nineteen at The Star.
Of course, we won’t judge if you decide to treat yourself and leave the cooking to the experts – BYO bib.
Feeling inspired to pull out all the stops with a platter this Easter? Read our chef’s expert tips on how to put on the ultimate seafood spread.
Check out our other stories:
- How To BBQ Prawns Like A Pro This Summer
- The Uday Way: Oyster Shucking & Roasting
- Brunch With Uday Huja: An Excuse To Have Oysters Before Midday
- Ever Wondered Which Australian Oysters Are Best?
- How To Serve & Eat Raw Oysters At Home
- Chase Kojima’s Mess-Free Fish Scaling
- Chase Kojima’s Fish Seasoning Method
- How To BBQ Fish Like A Pro This Summer
- The Great Lobster Debate
- How To Put On The Ultimate Seafood Spread At Home
