Chili Basil Lobster

 

Chili Basil Lobster – Tim Wilson

Here’s another SE Asian guaranteed winner – it does the lobster justice while breaking up the flavour

Ingredients:

Rice
8+ Cloves of garlic – finely chopped
4-5 Long red chilis – diced
Birds eye chilis/chili flakes/hot chilis
1 onion sliced
Shallots roughly chopped
1 Large carrot – sliced
2-3 celery stalks – sliced
1 Tb Fish Sauce
1 Tb Soy Sauce
1 Tb Oyster Sauce
Small amount of chicken stock
Good handful of thai basil (holy basil or normal basil will suffice if unavailable)
2 cray tails, meat removed and cut to a size of your liking
ANything else you want to stir fry up (highly reccomend bamboo shoots)

Method:
1) Get the rice cooking
2) Put a very generous amount of oil in your wok/pan (coconut oil is really good if you have it)
3) Heat until smoking, stir fry garlic, chili and onion for about 3 minutes or until onions have just started to cook
4) Throw in shallots, celery and carrot (and other veges you want to include) – stir fry for a further minute or two
5) Add the lobster pieces, chicken stock and fish,soy and oyster sauces
6) Stir and fry until sauce has thickened and there is no/minimal liquid in the pan, and lobster is cooked through
7) Remove from the heat and stir through thai basil and hot chili’s
8) Serve on rice
9) Enjoy

 

Lobster Pad Thai

Lobster Pad Thai
Hello all, Here’s a recipe for many of my like minded spearo’s – if you find winter is great for crays but tire of eating them, this is a good way to use them well and get a bloody tasty and not totally sacrilegious meal out of Em.

Feeds 3 people – can easily be bulked up to feed 4 or more with some fish, chicken breast or extra veg

Sauce
1.5 Tb tamarind puree
1/4 cup chicken stock
3Tb fish sauce
1Tb soy sauce
Chili powder to taste, I use about 1Tb, there is fresh Chili to be added to thepad Thai later as well
4Tb Brown Sugar

Method
Mix all ingredients together, taste and balance flavors accordingly, when its right it will initially taste sweet and then the hot, salty and sour flavors will come afterwards. Set aside

Pad Thai
Ingredients
2 x crays
1 bag pad Thai rice noodles
Shallots – lots is good, 4 big ones minimum
1/2 an onion cut into pieces
2Tsp minced galangal, or ginger if you don’t have it
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 fresh red chilis (or more if you want an inferno!) Sliced thin, with seeds
1egg
1 big handful of bean sprouts
1 bigger handful of corriander
1/2 cup of finely chopped roasted peanuts
Lime or lemon wedges

Method
1. Grab the tail of the crays and twist out, chop in half and remove meat, devein and into small pieces (5-10mm in size), set aside
2. Boil some water in a jug. Place pad Thai noodles in a saucepan and cover with boiling water. Test noodles after 3 minutes or so, when they are flexible but still have a bit of crunch to them drain then and cover with cold water to prevent further cooking
3. Place a good amount of oil in a wok or large frypan and heat till its very hot. Finely slice the Shallots and fry in hot until until they start to get some color (not a lot) and remove and set aside
4. Add more oil of needed and get wok back to temperature, add the onion and stir fry for 2 minutes or so, until it begins to turn translucent.
5. Add the cray pieces and garlic and ginger cook for around 3 minutes storing as needed until lobster is just cooked through
6. Push everything to one side and crack an egg into the wok on the empty side, chop and stir until scrambled and distribute through the rest of the ingredients (alternatively you can fry the egg in a separate pan, slice it up and put it through)
7. Add the bean sprouts, fresh Chili and drained noodles and combine everything, add about 1/4 of the pad Thai sauce, sour very gently – make sure the wok stays at temperature for this part
8. When the dish is dry add another 1/4 of the sauce and repeat- pad Thai is a dry dish, if you add to much sauce at once it won’t work.
9. Repeat until all sauce has been added, the noodles should be glossy and sticky
10. Serve on a big plate topping with the fried Shallots, peanuts and chopped corriander, give a good size of lime or lemon over the top and you are in for some happy days!

her fish. 

Seahorses, Seadragons and Pipefish

Common Name: Seahorses, Seadragons and Pipefish
Scientific Name: Syngnathidae
Maximum Size: 40cm
Range:  QLD, NSW, VIC, TAS, SA, WA, NT.

Seahorses, Seadragons and Pipefish belong to the family Syngnathidae and are completely protected in NSW. It is illegal to harvest them for any purpose, including for aquariums, unless special permits are granted.

Seahorses can often be found in estuaries, clinging to sponges and seapens.

Pipefish are commonly found in estuaries, particularly in seagrass meadows.

The only species of Seadragon found in NSW is the Weedy Seadragon, which is found in deep kelp stands and seagrass meadows, especially in sheltered bays.

 

Queensland Groper

Common Name: Queensland Groper
Scientific Name: Epinephelus lanceolatus
Maximum Size: 300cm
NSW Record: 177.81kg (before it became a protected species)
Range: QLD, NSW, NT, WA

The Queensland Groper is the largest bony fish found in rocky and coral reef habitat. The distinct markings shown above can fade to a dusky grey in large fish, however the sheer size makes them difficult to confuse with other species. Although in the past the author has confused them with boulders and attempted to hide behind them while stalking other fish. 

Blue Groper

Common Name: Blue Groper
Scientific Name: Achoerodus viridis
Maximum Size: 120cm
NSW Record: 19.054kg (before it became a protected species)
Range: QLD, NSW, VIC

Note: Linefishers may take still take this species. See NSW Fisheries website for legal lengths and bag limits

The Blue Groper is a commonly seen species on NSW reefs and is easily distinguished by its size and swimming technique. The frantic waving of the pectoral fins is a swimming style common to the Wrasse family, to which this species belongs. The juveniles and females can range in colour from light brown to dark green, the dominant male takes on a bright to dark blue colouration. Should the male die, or be caught by linefishers, the next largest female will change into a male over a period of several days.

 

Grey Nurse Shark

Common Name: Grey Nurse Shark
Scientific Name: Carcharias taurus
Maximum Size: 400cm
Range:  QLD, NSW, VIC, SA, WA.

The Grey Nurse Shark is probably the most commonly seen large shark in NSW. It can be found around headlands, particularly near large cave systems; islands and deepwater bommies. Usually the sharks aggregate in schools, ranging from a few to over a hundred individuals. Juveniles can be found in water as shallow as 1-2m and seem to avoid hanging around large adults.

This species is generally placid, although the use of burley and the vibrations put out by speared fish may result in having to deal with agitated and inquisitive sharks. Divers have been bitten under these circumstances, however the injuries were minor.

resent.