Cooking Method
Poach, pan-fry, stir-fry, bake, grill, barbecue, smoke, pickle. Larger fish are best marinated and/or wrapped in foil or banana leaves if baking or barbecuing, to prevent the flesh drying out. For a milder flavour, remove the strip of dark red muscle from just beneath the skin.
Species
Description
Unrelated to Atlantic Salmon and other Salmonidae, which have a much shorter dorsal fin and more pinky-orange flesh. Available wild-caught, it is a coastal fish, occasionally found in estuaries and mainly caught with beach, or purse, seines. The eastern variety is caught along the coasts of southern NSW, south-eastern Victoria, northern and southern Tasmania, and the western variety is caught off the south-western tip of WA, south-western Victoria and south-eastern SA.
Other Names
Bay Trout, Black Back, Buck Salmon, Cocky Salmon, Colonial Salmon, Kahawai (NZ), Salmon, Salmon Trout.
Family
Arripidae (Australian Salmons).
Season
Available year round with peak supply from January to April.
Size and Weight
Average 900g-5kg and 40-75cm, but can grow to 10.5kg and almost 1 metre.