Sydney's best last-minute seafood buys for Christmas

• The ultimate Christmas seafood recipe collection

From Victorian rock flathead to West Australian bar cod, there's a plethora of seafood available in Sydney for Christmas says chef Josh Niland.

"I'm a bit shocked by it actually," says the owner of Paddington's Saint Peter restaurant and seafood shop Fish Butchery. "Traditionally, summer is a season where you're clutching at straws to find a plate-sized snapper. It's nice to see so much abundance."

That abundance is largely due to favourable weather conditions, says Sydney Fish Market's resident seafood expert and guide Alex Stollznow. With retail demand for seafood up on last Christmas, the plentiful supply also favours fishmongers.

"We've seen a lot more people buying seafood to cook at home this year, especially fish at the premium end of the market," says Stollznow.

"Foodies hankering for great seafood during lockdown have been cooking more lobsters and whole fish for special occasions. That demand is flowing through to Christmas as Sydneysiders become more comfortable cooking fish."

Although many retailers have closed orders for December 24 delivery and pick-up, great bargains can be found onsite at the fish market and seafood shops. Here's a selection to look out for if you can handle the Christmas Eve queues.

Lobsters

The big seafood story this year is that the price of crayfish has crashed. Trade tensions with China have pushed Australian rock lobster off the menu in Beijing and into local seafood stores at prices much lower than last year.

"At the fish markets, we've seen a 20 per cent price drop at retailers for premium live western, southern and eastern rock lobsters," says Stollznow. "They've gone from around $110 to $80 a kilogram."

Coles and Woolworths caused supermarket chaos in the past week for selling "rescued" WA rock lobsters for $20 each. "People should realise those thawed lobsters at the major retailers are relatively small – around 300 to 400 grams a piece," says Stollznow.

"Say your supermarket lobster is 330 grams. At $20 that's still $60 a kilogram, and not that much cheaper than the live and fresh-cooked lobsters at the fish markets – lobsters that haven't spent time in a freezer and arguably taste much better."

To cook: First-time lobster handlers should buy a pre-cooked crayfish or risk an Annie Hall situation in the home kitchen. Split the lobster lengthways and brush with lemon butter and grill, mix the flesh with mayonnaise and cayenne pepper for lobster rolls, or use the tail meat to top a decadent pasta. The ways with lobster are many and delicious.

Prawns

Recent wild weather in Queensland and NSW saw much of the east coast prawn fleet anchored inshore. "Don't worry," says Michael Wood, president of the Moreton Bay Seafood Industry Association north of Brisbane. "The full moon will bring the prawns up to the surface and we will have super fresh prawns heading down the coast all next week."

Stollznow says NSW school prawns are currently running and sold green or cooked. "King prawns from the Clarence River are tasting great too."

Australian‌ ‌supermarkets‌ ‌are‌ ‌still‌ ‌well-stocked‌ ‌with‌ ‌wild-caught‌ ‌prawns‌ ‌certified‌ ‌sustainable‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌Marine‌ ‌Stewardship‌ ‌Council.‌ ‌Expect‌ ‌to‌ ‌pay‌ ‌around‌ ‌$25‌ ‌to‌ ‌$30‌ ‌per‌ ‌kilogram‌ ‌for‌ ‌good‌ ‌quality‌ ‌medium‌ ‌prawns‌ ‌and‌ ‌around‌ ‌$49‌ ‌for‌ ‌jumbo‌ ‌prawns‌ ‌at‌ ‌fishmongers‌ ‌and‌ ‌online.‌ ‌ ‌

And‌ ‌to‌ ‌make‌ ‌Christmas‌ ‌easier,‌ ‌the‌ ‌Australian‌ ‌prawn‌ ‌industry‌ ‌has‌ ‌created‌ ‌the‌ ‌Tinder‌ ‌of‌ ‌seafood‌ ‌–‌ ‌‌The‌ ‌‌Prawn‌ ‌Finder‌ ‌website‌‌ ‌–‌ ‌to‌ ‌match‌ ‌consumers‌ ‌with‌ ‌their‌ ‌nearest‌ ‌stockist‌ ‌of‌ ‌Australian‌ ‌prawns.‌ ‌

To cook: To misquote Forrest Gump, "The prawn is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There's prawn-kebabs, prawn creole, prawn gumbo. Pan-fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple prawns, lemon prawns, coconut prawns, pepper prawns, prawn soup, prawn stew, prawn salad, prawn and potatoes, prawn burgers and prawn sandwiches."

Oysters

Sydney rock oysters are considered to be their briny best between September and March. Good varieties, grown on leases along the NSW coast, can be purchased at Fish Butchery, Marrickville's Faros Brothers and Oceana Traders in Avalon Beach. (It should be noted Oceana Traders, like many Northern Beaches retailers, is closed at the time of writing due to Sydney's COVID-19 outbreak).

Home delivered oysters are now a thing, and some of Australia's best unshucked Sydney rocks can be dropped at your front door courtesy of Signature Oysters in Batemans Bay. Prices start at $89 for three dozen medium oysters, including delivery. Signature also delivers larger Pacific oysters.

To cook: Purists say freshly-shucked and natural is the only way to eat oysters, with a squeeze of lemon maybe. It is Christmas though, so by all means consider topping your bivalves with zesty finger lime pearls.

Scallops

"Commercial scallop quality is really great this year," says Stollznow. "They're coming into the market from Bass Strait with nice fat roe and retailing in the half-shell, already cleaned, for less than a dollar each. That is ridiculously good value for quality scallops."

To cook: Stollznow suggests throwing scallops in their shell on a hotplate for only a minute, with just a knob of butter, garlic and a splash of white wine. A textbook example of minimum effort for maximum reward.

Wild-caught fish

Wild weather up north has knocked the head on a plentiful tuna catch, while southern winds have likely blown away prospects for large amounts of fresh calamari this Christmas. For just about everything else from around Australia, it's game on.

"We're seeing amazing greenback flounder come in from [fisher] Bruce Collis in Corner Inlet, Victoria, which are fantastic one-pan wonders," says Niland.

"Bar cod from the west are unbelievable too. You may as well buy a bar cod instead of lobster, that's how good the flesh condition is."

Iconic Australian fish including King George whiting, garfish and rock flathead from Victoria are also tasting great, says Niland. "At Fish Butchery you can ask for your King George whiting to be butterflied and crumbed for the most glorious fish fingers ever."

The chef also suggests a big coral trout as a table centrepiece instead of ham. Stollznow agrees.

"Deeper bodied fish such as snapper, boarfish and coral trout make terrific standing roasts," he says. "Any fish where you can eat the skin is great for presenting and serving on the middle of the table."

To cook: For a whole standing roast fish, ask the fishmonger to scale and gut your choice of fish, then score the sides into portions at home. Slice a lemon lengthways, place each half flat-side down on an oven tray, and make a "V" with chopsticks in the fruit to hold the fish upright.

Dry the skin, rub it with a little bit of olive oil and salt, and whack the fish into the oven, nose first. "This will ensure even air flow and stop one side going mushy," says Stollznow. "The fins and skin will crisp up and look spectacular, especially served with greens and more lemon."

Visiting the fish market for Christmas

Sydney Fish Market's 36-hour seafood marathon will return in 2020, albeit with a series of COVID-Safe measures in place.

The Pyrmont site is set to open non-stop from 5am December 23, through to 5pm Christmas Eve. The car park will be closed to the general public (aside from disabled parking) to allow for social distancing, marshalling and temperature checks. Shoppers are required to enter the market from a single point on Bank Street to allow for QR registration.

Additional parking options will be provided at Sydney Secondary College (entrance on Pyrmont Bridge Road), and the Fig and Wattle Streets council site (opposite Wentworth Park, entrance on Fig Street). Public transport is also available for anyone who wants to take a chiller bag on the bus or tram.

With Richard Cornish