New to Bream

[sleepygreg]

I dont keep em under 30cm (too many small bones). Fillet, skin, debone....then a light dusting of flour...seasoned with salt and ground black pepper, and a pinch of curry powder, shallow fried in some peanut oil (with a teaspoon of sesame oil added). This works for most estuary fish .....my favourites done this way are Bream, Luderick, Black Drummer, Flathead, Whiting and soapy Jew. Not a huge fan of batter, though the flathead fillets i did tonight in a commercial packet batter came up a treat.....yummo.

Greg

[Noelm]

hhmm Black Drummer, had some the other day, for Bream I prefer to keep the skin on.

[sleepygreg]

Dammit Noelm, now your making me jealous. Havent had a feed of 'pigs' in years. They would be my favourite eating fish.

Im not a huge fan of leaving the skin on, though I know many others that like the skin left on. Any 'nasty' flavours that a fish accumulates usually are in the layer of fat under the skin, especially in estuary species. And with flathead....unless you are an expert scaler (which unfortunately my niece...who catches and helps clean most of the flathead caught) is not, you will be spitting out fine scales instead of enjoying the feed.

(am dreaming of those succulent chunky drummer fillets as im typing this...grrrrr)

Greg

[PinHead]

bream..fillet..dip in some flour and cook in the pan..forget all those 5 million secret herbs and spices..why ruin the taste by putting heaps of other stuff on it.

[Horse]

Bream taste pretty ordinary with the skin on IMHO . I would alway fillet, skin, debone rib and pin bones then either toss in a bag of seasoned flour and shallow fried in peanut oil or ghee or in flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs and fried .
Bream have a few background flavours that I don't like when slow cooked eg baked, steamed or in foil

[sleepygreg]

I agree about the bream done in foil or baked......just doesnt do it for me...though I love snapper done this way. I was brought up on bream (and luderick and flathead) dusted in flour (with the skin left on) then pan fried, and always found myself peeling the skin off before I ate it. Now Im in charge of cleaning them, the skin comes off BEFORE they are cooked. Tastes much better IMO. Still a big fan of pan frying in a bit of oil (preferabley peanut oil or good quality canola, with a splash of sesame oil)....I also like to season the flour with a pinch of Keens curry powder, pinch of salt, and a couple of twists of black pepper from the grinder. And always double dust the fish....Ie: put the seasoned flour in a plastic freezer bag, put the fillets in a couple at a time, twist the end of the bag to seal and toss em around, put aside on a plate.....well before time to cook...put all the floured fillets on a covered plate in the fridge for an hour or two. When you are ready to cook them...take em out of the fridge...make another batch of seasoned flour then repeat the flouring process immediately before cooking. Its not as heavy as batter, and gives a nice crispy coating to the fish. Make sure the oil is HOT, otherwise the coating will be soggy when cooked.

Greg