Perch On The Table
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The PERCH MAN ABN 42 065 149 145
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
1. The price of fry between Jade Perch, Silver Perch and Sleepy Cod
Jade and silver perch fry are the same price. Sleepy cod price varies from season to season, depending success of breeding.
2. The growth rate between Jade Perch, Silver Perch and Sleepy Cod.
Sleepy cod are slower growers than the perch. Little or no, commercial figures are available for this species. They perform best in tropical conditions. In Australia winter temperatures result in very slow growth. I am told by my clients in China that they have achieved quite good growth in RAS at high temperatures.
Jade perch compered to silver perch. Jade perch grow very fast in tropical conditions. Much faster than silver perch. In a tropical climate, my best guess would be that jade perch would be about 1kg in about 10 months. Silver perch about 1kg in 12 months. Market size in Australia is generally about 800 grams.
3. The meat quality between Jade Perch, Silver Perch and Sleepy Cod.
Silver and jade perch have different fat content. Westerners prefer the silver perch because it is less fatty. Asian taste prefer jade perch because of the flavour of the fat. In fact, one of my clients in Hong Kong told me silver perch does not have enough flavour. He prefers the blend of fat and lean meat which gives it its distinctive flavour and texture. Personally I like both, but the silver perch does have a more delicate flavour. Sleepy cod are quite different to the perch. They have very little fat in their meat. The flesh is more flaky than perch. It has been compered to high end reef fish. It is generally considered to be the best freshwater table fish in Australia.
4. The market acceptance in Australia between Jade Perch, Silver Perch and Sleepy Cod.
All of these species have enjoyed market acceptance to the point that there is never enough production to meet demand. The supply has been almost exclusively absorbed by the Asian community in Sydney and Brisbane, with Melbourne only receiving a trickle of production. The production of these fish in Australia is from relatively small family business. These businesses have been steadily increasing production as their business model has allowed. No major cooperate investment has occurred. Supermarkets chains have not been able to find significant, reliable, long term supplies.
Hints and recipes for jade and silver perch
Want fish that are table size
It's no so easy to find jade perch in any retail outlet in any of the Australian cities. There is not enough production for it to be offered to the broader market. It's a long story, but essentially all these fish come from family businesses. Farms run by families. They are all making a good, secure living. It would be a big move, and risk, to jump to the "broarder market", supermarket outlets. The Asian community in our cities pretty much consume all the production. I personally have been looking into the option to have it delivered to "mum's" door. It's an obvious market, health conscious mum, or just generally health conscious people that want to eat this regularly. The best I can do at the moment is send it in a box lots, of whole, chilled jade, or silver perch, which you must collect from your local airport, and you collect it there.
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This recipe won the Aquaculture Association of Queensland 2018 cooking competition
Prep time 20 minutes. Cook time 25 minutes
Ingredients
1 kg Sushi rice
1 bottle Sushi seasoning
4 Jade Perch fillets
2 cups mirin
Japanese rice wine condiment
2 cups light soy sauce
Preferably Japanese style
1 cup Brown Sugar
Instructions
1:cook sushi rice according to packet instructions. Then add sushi seasoning and cool on flat tray. Place weights on rice to make a firm even rectangle and chill.
2: Combine mirin, soy sauce and sugar in a pan and reduce by half.
3: Carefully fillet your Jade perch remove all pin bones and de-scale.
4:Place Jade perch fillet on grill, BBQ or in frying pan. Brush sauce over fish and continue turning and brushing sauce layering more and more sauce each time the fish is turned over.
5: Cut chilled rice into small rectangles and then add lacquered fish fillets on top of sushi rice.
6: Serve with pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi.
This recipe won the Aquaculture Association of Queensland 2017 cooking competition.
Prep time 30 minutes. Cook time 15 minutes.
Ingredients
4 Jade Perch fillets
10 fl oz Chicken Stock
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup Brown sugar
1 tea spoon grated fresh ginger
1 table spoon cornflour
1 orange juice and zest
Instructions
1. In a saucepan whisk together stock, soy, sugar, ginger, cornflour, orange juice and zest.
2. Bring to the boil, whisk lower heat and cool.
3. Place fish fillets in glaze and refrigerate for one hour.
4. Sear fish on BBQ or grill 2 minutes each side. Lower heat and cook through for a further few minutes depending on fish thickness. Be careful as glaze burns easily.
5. Pour remaining sauce into a small saucepan and boil then pour over fish and serve.
The following recipe was prepared by Martin Nash | |
BELOW Martin Nash and the perch man with a pair of jade perch at the Ausyfish hatchery | BELOW Martin Nash, Ausyfish trainee graduate, helps harvest jade perch at Ausyfish hatchery |
Thai Fish Cakes with cucumber sauce
Ingredients
500g silver perch or jade perch fillets, de-boned
2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 snake or green beans, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped coriander leaves
corn, vegetable or peanut oil
Method
Cut the fish into 2cm (3/4") cubes and blend in a food processor until it becomes a paste. Then add the fish sauce, paste and salt and blend for about 30 seconds. Transfer it to a bowl and mix the beans and coriander in thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Dip your hands in cold water first to prevent the mixture sticking, then take a small amount of mixture and make flattish fish cakes about 5cm (2") diameter and 2.5cm (1") thick. To cook, shallow fry them in a fry pan by heating the oil and frying them on both sides for about 2 minutes each, turning only once. Drain them on kitchen paper. Serve with cucumber dipping sauce.
Makes 12 fish cakes
Cucumber Sauce
Ingredients
80ml water
60ml white vinegar
60g sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cucumber
1 shallot or small onion, thinly sliced
1 small red chilli, seeds removed and chopped finely
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
4 stalks fresh coriander, finely sliced
2 tablespoons very finely diced carrots
1 tablespoon chopped roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
Method
Over a medium heat, in a small saucepan, bring to boil the water, vinegar, sugar and salt. Remove from heat and cool. Peel and slice the cucumber in half along its length then slice thinly. Place in a bowl and add the shallot or onion, chilli, fish sauce, coriander stalks and carrots and mix. Add the cooled vinegar mix. Garnish with chopped peanuts and coriander leaves just prior to serving with the fish cakes.