Barramundi is a fish of the rivers, estuaries and coast of tropical northern Australia, caught wild from February to November and farmed all year; Brisbane menus steam it, barbecue it whole or fold it into dumplings.
Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) takes its name from an Aboriginal language of the Rockhampton area in Queensland, meaning large-scaled river fish. In Australia it is caught with gillnets in the coastal and fresh waters of the tropical north, from the Ashburton River in Western Australia to the Noosa River in Queensland, and is also farmed; the Australian industry produces more than 9,000 tons a year. Wild fish are available from February to November, peaking from February to May. In Brisbane, Donna Chang barbecues a whole baby barramundi Chongqing style and Hello Please steams it with shiitake butter.
