So you want to keep seafood on the menu at your place, but you’re struggling with the price. You’ve also just joined the ABS (Anything But Salmon) fraternity. So what’s the solution? Even though the vast majority of fish eaten in this country is farmed salmon, and raw salmon fillets retail between $30 and $36 per kilo, there are plenty of options out there that won’t break the bank. Here are some choices for you to consider this season.

Barramundi 

If you do want to drop down a price point, you can find farmed barramundi fillets selling for about $18 per kilo. I’d pair this with bold flavours like a rich tomato stew loaded with olives, capers and lemon.

Or you can roast it with a nice, punchy marinade like a teriyaki sauce, or a rub of tandoori spices with a drizzle of cucumber yoghurt to serve, or perhaps a sharp, rich and creamy lemon and garlic sauce.

As you might tell, I’m not a fan of the muddy flavour some barra can have, so I tend to try to hide it.

Peeled prawns

I’d rather eat prawns than salmon any day of the week. Raw prawn meat is priced about the same and is the way to go if you want to cook your prawns. (Leave the ready-cooked prawns for making prawn mayo rolls with shredded iceberg lettuce, or tossing in a prawn and green mango salad.)

Those raw, green prawns are great (barely) cooked in a prawn saganaki. This Greek classic features prawns in a garlicky tomato sauce baked with feta. It’s great with rice, orzo pasta or just crusty bread.

There are many inspiring prawn dishes – whether it’s my prawns with burnt butter spaghettini (you won’t believe the secret ingredient) or Lucy Busuttil’s congee with lap cheong and prawns.

Marinara mix

As long as it smells freshly of the sea, don’t be put off from buying a kilo of marinara mix for a white wine or vodka and tomato-based sauce. It’s good for linguine, a cheaper paella, or a fish pie. My advice is to use double the amount of garlic recommended in any of these recipes.

Squid

Look for aeroplane squid, or Gould’s squid, which is coming into season now and is about half the price of calamari. You’ll look to pay less than $20 a kilo for the rings and about $15 a kilo for the whole hood.

Crumb and fry the rings Vietnamese salt-and-pepper style, or make a marinated squid salad. For the hoods, stuff them with leftover paella or spiced pork mince to bake, or barbecue them whole with strips of chorizo and lots of lemon.

For a more tender squid, marinate it overnight in milk, or for a couple of hours in puréed kiwi fruit. The actinidin enzyme in the green kiwi fruit will help to break down the squid, just be sure to wipe it off before cooking. Then cook it either hard, hot and fast, or braise it slowly – anything else will result in chewy, rubbery squid.

Related story: Mussels are in for summer, here’s how Matt Preston is cooking them

Mussels

Let’s make this a merry mussel Christmas and 2023 a mussel-y New Year. Mussels only cost about $10-$15 per kilo in shell and are supremely versatile. The easiest way to prepare them is to steam them open in a broth flavoured for the part of the world you might like to take them: lemongrass and galangal for Thailand; vermouth, dill and garlic for France; cider and diced apple for Normandy.

Smoked cod

Another bargain at the supermarket fish counter is smoked cod. It’ll cost you about $16.50 a kilo, but it’s great flaked in fish cakes, a fish pie with loads of corn, or in a chowder. It’s bold, almost bacon-y flavour makes it perfect for a kedgeree (an Indian fish dish) of curry powder-scented rice with hard-boiled eggs and steamed green beans, or just cooked gently in milk that’s infused with a bay leaf and thyme. Add thinly sliced steamed potatoes and onions to finish.

Trust your fishmonger

The main issue about shopping for cheaper seafood is convenience and supply. You’ll most likely have to go to a fishmonger for a choice of my favourite under $20-per-kilo fish, which include ling and blue grenadier. Pan fry or roast the ling, and treat blue grenadier like cut-price flathead fillets for your fish and chips.

The other benefit of the fishmonger is using their wisdom for what fish, currently selling at a good price, they’d recommend for a recipe. Tips from my favourite fishmonger, Stephanie Kaparos from Clamms Seafood, have included albacore tuna, sand whiting (if you don’t mind bones) and the vastly underrated mirror dory. Dust the fillets in rice flour and pan fry in ghee. Perfect.

For those who love an oily fish, Steph recommends blue mackerel and jack mackerel. Grill whole with bold flavours such as a Moroccan chermoula marinade.

Avoid cheap, imported fish

Savings can come at a cost. Imported fish such as Basa and Nile perch may fall close to $10 a kilo and are fine for a curry. But, like any farmed fish, these have raised environmental flags over their proliferation just as Toxic, Richard Flanagan’s 2021 book about the impact of Tasmanian salmon farming, has raised similar concerns. It’s your call, but note it always pays to shop around as prices can fluctuate more than 30 per cent between supermarkets.