This is one of those recipes which caught us by surprise.
We don’t normally eat barramundi, but they were so fresh when we were last at the fishmongers that we couldn’t resist buying them. Not having cooked this fish before, we had no idea where to start.
Google turned up this recipe at Taste.com, and it was absolutely brilliant. So despite the dodgy photo, we decided that this definitely warranted a blogpost – to ensure that we could find it again, if nothing else!
We used two small baby barramundi (about half a kilo each) and began by slashing both sides of the cleaned fishes, then drizzling them with a little oil and scattering over a couple of tablespoons of sesame seeds and a little sea salt (not too much, as the soy dressing was quite salty). The fish were placed in a well oiled pan and baked in a preheated 200C (180C with fan) oven for 25 minutes, until the flesh flaked away easily from the bone (it’s easy to check at the slashes).
While the fish was roasting, we prepared the sauce, using:
- 2 tablespoons light vegetable oil
- a 4cm chunk of ginger, peeled and julienned
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 2 red chillies, deseeded and sliced
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (we used Japanese grain vinegar)
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
In a small saucepan, we heated the oil, then added the ginger, garlic and chillies, allowing them to cook for a couple of minutes until softened. The soy, vinegar and sesame oil was then added and warmed through.
Once out of the oven, the sauce was spooned over the hot fish. We served this with steamed rice and the boys were very taken with it – Small Man ate an entire baby barra on his own. Definitely a dish we’ll make again!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
That looks really delicious. I will have to see if I can find Barramundi. What would a good substitute be if I can’t.
I’m not really good with fish, but Barramundi is a white fleshed fish, if that helps. My mum and Linda (in comment below) both think perch might work as well. Here’s the wiki article on barra…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barramundi
Love the sound of the sauce, scrumptious! I know barramundi but I am sure I could use another whole small fish for this.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, I’m sure other white-fleshed fish would work well. I didn’t know until after I posted this that barramundi was an Australian fish! :)
Oh those do look wonderful Celia. I looked up barramundi & found that it seems similar to sea bass which we have here. It would be interesting to see what kind of fish are unique to you – probably the most popular ocean fish here is haddock, sole, bass, and halibut. From the west coast & very popular now is salmon.
Di, there is a big effort to breed barra in the US, as it’s very suited to sustainable fish farming techniques. I googled it and found this company:
http://www.thebetterfish.com/the-healthy-fish
Apparently US grown barramundi is available in North Californian Costcos! :)
Thanks for that link. Now I’m even more interested in trying some. Alas, I’m on the wrong coast but perhaps with enough requests at markets here we’ll start to see it eventually. I like sea bass but its a little fishy tasting sometimes and this sounds like it has less of that fishy flavor. Dang those Californians – always trying to one up the right coast.
Wow, that scrumptious! The sauce is truly to die for….
loved this post, Celia! Wish I could find this type of fish, whole here… but I doubt it
Sally, apparently you can buy US grown barramundi fillets in Whole Foods in Kansas, but I can’t see how you can buy the whole fish: http://www.thebetterfish.com/home
Diane in the comment above suggests sea bass as an alternative, and wiki lists barra as a variety of sea bass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_bass). My mum would use perch.
They look delicious. We have Sea Bass which looks as if it comes from the same family.
Pat, you’re good with fish, I had no idea barra was a variety of sea bass until I started reading these comments! :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_bass
Love the combination of flavours here, Celia. Simple and delicious!
Thanks Lizzy! We were really pleased with how easy this was!
Oh how very yummy you guys. They sound perfect to me. I love fish with these flavours.
Tania, it was so easy to prep and throw in the oven. And the boys absolutely loved it!
Mmm, lovely looking fishies. I’ve never got the whole “thing” about barramundi though, all fish tastes much the same to me.
Amanda, that’s interesting, for us this was quite different to the red-fleshed fish we normally eat like rainbow trout and salmon. Made for a nice change! :)
We adore fish and a beautiful new fishmongery has opened opposite our shop, I know what we are having one night next week. Thank you Celia dear.
Rose, that’s fantastic to have a shop like that so close! Lucky you! I hope you enjoy your fish! :)
Barra is such an odd fish! I guess it’s a bit fatty and would be nice with those flavours.
Bernie, this is actually the first time we’ve cooked it and we were surprised – I’ve eaten it in restaurants before, but haven’t enjoyed it nearly as much!
I make my fresh fish this way too, except I steam it in the steamer instead of baking in the oven. Will try baking next time.
Norma, I grew up eating steamed fish, but I’ve never quite mastered the knack of knowing when the fish is done! This was a slightly easier approach! :)
I love the sound of this Celia but I’m no where near brave enough to cook a whole fish. I thought you’d had them in a restaurant the photo looks so good!
Claire, aren’t you nice, thank you! I was a bit worried about the dodgy photo! :) Be brave, try baking a fish! What’s the worse that can happen? (well, unless the sight of a whole fish makes you feel crook in your current state :)).
I love barra – such a delicate fish. And I love the sound of this with steamed rice and greens.
Nancy, you must be getting amazing steamed fish in Shanghai! :)
I love going to the fishmonger and just choosing whatever looks the freshest – it means I keep learning how to cook different types of fish.
Mary, I do too, although these days I try to read up a bit first. I bought a really cheap fish once and it was terrible – I later found out that it’s mostly used for cat food.. :)
Thank you for a lovely recipe so appetizing to my taste buds! Also doubt whether I can find a fresh baby barra here in the country but any fresh small fish of roughly the same consistency would lead to a very similar result methinks :) ! Do have a good weekend and may the rain come in showers and not in a deluge!!
Thanks Eha, lots of rain in the last couple of days, which is very welcome! Hope you’re getting some in the Mountains as well! :)
This looks great- no wonder he didn’t want to share! I have to admit barramundi isn’t my favourite fish as if it’s not close just right it goes like soggy paper towel, but cooking it whole like this would be perfect. Thanks for posting it Celia, you’ve inspired me to give it another try xox
Becca, I can see what you mean – not sure I’d be game to try steaming this one – but it was very nice baked! Maybe it needs a drier prep?
I think you’re right- as usual! Xox
I think baby barra will be on the menu this weekend. the sauce, yum.
Bronwen, we were supposed to scatter chopped coriander over the top to make it look pretty, but we didn’t have any on hand! Enjoy! :)
Nothing beats fresh fish! The recipe sounds delicious :)
Thanks Tandy! It really was! :)
This recipe reminds me of Darwin. And, is two of of my favourite combinations – rice & fish, and ginger & garlic (or shallot). All together they are amazing :)
I’m sure barra is a staple on Top End menus, ED! What really made this dish special was the sesame seeds and oil – I was reluctant to put two whole teaspoons of oil in at the end (usually we use sesame oil in drops), but it really made a huge difference to the flavour!
If you can buy super fresh barramundi it’s the best! I’m always on the lookout for interesting and fresh ways to cook fish, thanks for sharing.
Most welcome, hope you enjoy it as much as we did! I didn’t realise until I came to these comments that barra was a local fish!
I love recipes that come like this. You might never have found this without seeing those fish at the fishmongers.
Maureen, you’re so right, and it makes me wonder how many other fish we pass up at the fishmongers simply because we’ve never tried them before and aren’t game! :)
Yum will have to make this
Hope you enjoy it! :)
Hi Celia! I linked my IMK for November and was wondering if you would add it to your list? Thanks so much for the great idea 😊
That’s great Julie, thanks for playing!
Looks wonderful Celia. Am wondering what fish from UK waters is similar as really want to cook this. Also, I have some Chinese style sauce made from damsons in the fridge that I reckon would go well with it.
Andrea, Pat in the comment above suggested sea bass? Apparently barramundi is a variety of sea bass!
We have just started harvesting our perch from the top dam, and I think they might go really well cooked this way. What a good idea!
Linda, I hope you enjoy it, my mum suggested perch as well, although she used to steam hers.
Love some freshly steamed barramundi! I don’t bake it often enough though but I think this sounds really good :D
Lorraine, we’re not very good at steaming – I always end up with the fish all mangled because I keep checking it to see if it’s cooked! :)
I’ve never tried sesame seeds with fish – looks great.