At Sydney Fish Market, we trade more than 100 different species across our auction floor every single day. Our tour guide and resident seafood expert Alex is on the floor almost every morning showing tour participants everything weird and wonderful that has arrived overnight, as well as filming fun educational videos for our social media followers.
Today, we thought we'd share five of our favourite videos from the floor, featuring some of the interesting, rare, and downright weird species we find in our famous blue boxes.
Conger Eel
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It doesn't get much freakier than an Eel as long as Alex is tall. As he says in the video, Alex had to be peer-pressured into picking one of these up, not only because they are extremely heavy and unwieldy, but also because they are absolutely covered in an awful, thick slime.
Of course, you would never see a whole Eel like this in a wet fish retailer; they are processed into neat little portions for you to take home and BBQ, hot-smoke, or blow-torch in a teriyaki marinade. While it's freaky to look at in its whole form, this species is absolutely delicious, and a favourite of many sushi restaurants.
Hairtail
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What is it about slithery, snake-like fish that gives us the creeps? However, we urge you not to let the Hairtail's appearance (and Barracuda-like teeth!) put you off. This fish is revered in many cultures for its sweet, delicate white flesh, which is beautifully suited to poaching in a spicy coconut soup. You can also barbecue this fish... just make sure you do it quickly on a very high heat, as it will only take a minute to cook through!
European Carp
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In this video, Alex spoke at length about how maligned Carp is as an eating fish in Australia, and his point was proven by the stream of comments that ensued! Many of our followers were outraged by the thought of eating this fish, likely because they have eaten one caught in muddy or brackish waters, which gives the flesh an unpleasant taste.
Chefs like Mark Best have been working hard to show Aussies that this fish can be delicious when treated right. We recommend giving it a try, ensuring that you find a specimen that has been caught and processed properly, like those from Coorong Wild Seafood in South Australia.
Carp is eaten all over the world, so surely everyone can't be wrong!
Deep-Sea Crabs
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It is rare to see crab species from the deep-sea on the auction floor, because catching them is such a specialised, artisanal process (using traps set up to 800m deep!). On top of this, both the Golden Champagne Crab and the Spider Crab are often delivered directly to high-end restaurants, bypassing Sydney Fish Market completely due to their rarity and high value.
If you can get your hands on one, definitely give it a try; their meat is especially fatty and rich due to their cold environment. And aren't they just beautiful!
Deep-Sea Armoured Flathead
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This species even surprised some of the fishers that follow our social media accounts, which is hard to do – those guys have seen almost everything! While Flathead are one of the most common fish around, in both recreational and commercial fishing, this Deep-Sea Flathead is much lesser known due to its hard-to-reach environment.
Like all deep-sea fish, it has a generous and well-distributed amount of fat, making its meat much richer than that of its shallow-dwelling cousins. Just watch out for its sharp spines; this would be a fish to have your fishmonger prep for you, to avoid getting sliced!