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Any tips on how to cook/prepare Red Morwong

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Manny_OCF

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Nov 2, 2017
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Hi everyone,

There is a species of fish around Sydney/East Coast of Australia, called the Red Morwong. It is extremely common, found in large numbers off any dive site.

These fish are medium sized, around 30-40cm.

They are also extremely slow and dumb, and are incredibly easy to catch. Whilst freediving, these fish have even swam into me.

anyone know how to cook and prepare them?
 
I find the trick with red mowies for myself, is to fillet & skin them, not scale & gut. They have that black stomach lining & under this they also seem to store a lot of oil/fat which gets released during gutting. I don't bother to gut them ever as they make excellent fillets which lend themselves to Asian cooking. Some of my Chinese mates consider them the "perfect" fish for making dumplings. I guess being red also lends to their popularity. If you are going to eat them whole, then that black stomach lining must be removed & the fat also, an old tooth brush is handy for this.
 
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I find the trick with red mowies for myself, is to fillet & skin them, not scale & gut. They have that black stomach lining & under this they also seem to store a lot of oil/fat which gets released during gutting. I don't bother to gut them ever as they make excellent fillets which lend themselves to Asian cooking. Some of my Chinese mates consider them the "perfect" fish for making dumplings. I guess being red also lends to their popularity. If you are going to eat them whole, then that black stomach lining must be removed & the fat also, an old tooth brush is handy for this.

Thanks for your awesome reply!

I'll keep in mind that black stomach lining. Does it have a bitter taste if any bit of it is accidentally left in?

I'd probably use it for asian cooking, or something with a heavier sauce.
 
For red mowies its not so much bitter as "kelpie/woody". Mowies eat small crustations, molluscs & what looks like a type of algae which grows on rocks; Im not sure where the oil & distinctive smell comes from, (maybe the algae?), but filleting & skinning them removes it & turns them into very good quality firm white fillets. I have had them when they have been steamed in a wok & lots of ginger & spring onions & asian spices are added, snapper, john dory, coral trout or tuskfish coulndnt have surpassed it. We are lucky, we are allowed 5 per day. I usually dont take them, except in a comp when I will always take one, or when I do want those 5kg of firm white fillets (only a few times per year). They are potentially vunerable to spearos & are an important species for tyros, but in depth beyond 15m they are still abundant & most of us respect & protect our "mowie holes" so we can always find one when needed.
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