Barramundi with pine mushroom broth, beach vegetables, wild leaves & flowers
Serves: 4

Note: To make this dish, you’ll need an array of wild ingredients that can be foraged from around the Illawarra. You can learn more about food foraging on The Gong Show podcast, or the Wild Food app. Alternatively, you can source many of these ingredients through online retailers such as The Bush Food Shop.

To make the broth – soak the dried mushrooms in 1L water for 5 minutes, then bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, sauté the fresh mushrooms in a hot pan with a little oil until caramelised, then add to the broth. Add the saltbush, sea blite and a lemon myrtle leaf and simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste, then pass the broth through a fine sieve and set aside.

To cook the barramundi – pat the skin dry with kitchen towel to remove any excess moisture. Place in a warm sauté pan with a little oil, then bring to a high heat whilst applying light pressure to the fish to prevent it from curling up. Once the skin is crisp, lower the heat and add 4 lemon myrtle leaves to the pan. Flip each piece of fish onto a leaf, flesh side down. This will stop the pan scorching the fish and prevent it from drying out.

Once the fish is cooked, remove from the pan to rest. Add 50ml of the broth into the same pan and stir through the  warrigal greens until just wilted.

To serve – stack the wilted warrigal greens in the middle of a bowl and top with a portion of fish. Carefully pour the broth around the outside of the fish. Finish by floating the wild leaves and flowers in the broth.