How to eat more New Zealand-caught fish for less

By Denise Irvine*

The high cost of fish is hitting our dinner plates.

Here's some suggestions for how to make your catch of the day not sink your wallet.

• Read more: Explainer: Why does fish cost so much?

Chef Rex Morgan has fond food memories of eating kahawai as a kid at his family's bach at Port Waikato. Kahawai deserves better than to be used as bait, he says, and in fact any fresh fish is good.

"You just need to be clever about how you use it. Firmer fleshed fish lend themselves better to roasting and curries but pretty much any species can be simply pan-fried. I'm a classical fish man, butter and lemon are the best ingredients. You want to taste the fish."

Morgan (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tahu) is the former chef-owner of Wellington's Boulcott Street Bistro, and

now lives in Christchurch where he is executive chef at Cassels Brewery Bar and Tannery Events, and does personal development mentoring with Pasifika and Māori youth.

He shares some tips and tricks for getting the best out of some under-rated and cheaper fish species:

Trevally: Eat it as fresh as possible. It is a firmer, slightly dry fish, perfect for a raw, ceviche-style dish, where the fish is "cooked" in lemon or lime juice: slice trevally thinly and neatly, mix with lime or lemon juice, add chopped fresh red chilli and red peppers, a nice ripe tomato, salt to taste, and drizzle with olive oil. Add coconut cream to turn it into the Cook Islands' treat, ika mata. Also makes great sashimi, sliced thinly and served with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.

Kahawai: It must be bled as soon as possible to preserve the colour and quality of the flesh. It is quite fatty and makes the best smoked fish pie, or smoked fish quiche. For a pie (and maximum flavour) flake kahawai fillets into a saucepan with milk. Heat to barely a simmer, strain off the fish, make a béchamel-style sauce with the milk, butter and flour, return the fish to the sauce, add peas, any other cooked veges and fresh herbs, ladle into an oven dish, top with mashed potato, a pastry lid or breadcrumbs and bake until golden and bubbling. Fresh kahawai fillets are also good pan-fried in butter with a squeeze of lemon.

Warehou: This is a leaner, white-fleshed fish, great for roasting: chop fillets into good-sized chunks, mix with chopped tomatoes (about half the size of the fish chunks), mix in some black or green olives if you have them, lemon juice, salt and pepper, a splash of olive oil, bake at 170-180 deg C for about 15 minutes, top with fresh herbs to serve. Warehou is also good in a coconut cream curry.

Hoki: Sometimes called poor man's cod, but don't underestimate it. It's nice and flaky and can be battered or crumbed for homemade fish and chips. Or pan-fry in butter, two minutes each side, add lemon juice to the pan and chuck in some capers in if you have them. For roasted hoki fillets, wrap the fish in tinfoil with sliced fennel, lemons and tomatoes, salt and pepper, a dash of white wine, fresh soft herbs, place on a metal tray with sides (it will likely leak) and bake at 180 dec C for 15-20 minutes. (Seal the foil bag well and it will puff up when it's done.)

* Denise Irvine is a Waikato journalist and food writer.