In Australia, you’re more likely to catch this fish than to buy it. Often mistaken for a Yellowfin Bream, Tarwhine has a similar shape, colour, diet, and habitat - hence the confusion. The identifying features are a more rounded mouth and chin as well as gold lines running horizontally along the length of the sides. But the similarities don’t stop there. The Tarwhine can be cooked exactly how you’d cook any Bream or Snapper. Steamed, grilled, baked, or deep-fried, with a variety of flavours. The flesh of the Tarwhine is delicate with a small flake, so make sure not to overcook it!

DIVE DEEPER

COMMERCIAL NAME

Tarwhine

Method of Capture

Trawl

Region

Eastern Australia

Other names

Silver Bream, Bream.

Scientific Family

Sparidae (Breams).

Seasonality

Available year round.

Size

Typically 200-500g and 20-30cm, but can grow to 2kg and 50cm.

Price range

Medium priced.

Alternative Species

Emperors (such as Grass, Longnose, Redspot, Redthroat and Spangled), Morwong, Tropical Snappers (such as Goldband, King and Ruby Snappers, and Green Jobfish).

ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES

SHOPPING TIPS

Sold mainly whole (gilled and gutted) and occasionally in fillet form (usually skinned). In whole fish look for lustrous skin, firm flesh, and a pleasant, fresh sea smell.In fillets, look for pale pinkish, firm, lustrous, moist flesh with some dark veins and without any brown markings or oozing water and with a pleasant fresh sea smell.

STORAGE TIPS

Make sure whole fish is scaled, gutted and cleaned thoroughly as soon as possible (completely remove the lining of the abdominal cavity and the white fat along the abdominal wall). Wrap whole fish and fillets in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze whole fish for up to 6 months, and fillets for up to 3 months, below -18ºC.

COOKING TIPS

Average yield is 35%. Has a mild, sweet flavour, low oiliness and moist, medium-textured flesh. Some fish can have a slightly ‘weedy’ taste due to their estuarine and coastal habitat.

COOKING METHODS

Steam, poach, pan-fry, bake, grill, barbecue. A good plate-sized fish cooked whole, flesh also works well in mousseline.

Flavour pairings

Capers, chilli, coriander, garlic, lemon, lemongrass, lime, parsley. Soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, ginger and Asian spices can help balance the slightly weedy taste Tarwhine sometimes develops due to its estuarine habitat.

IMPORTS

None. Frozen imported fillets of other species are sometimes sold as ‘Seabream’, although there is also an Australian fish called Seabream, which is actually a member of the Emperor family.