Beer n’ Pippies Bluey – By Anthony Davies

Pippies simmering in the beer sauce.

The three main ingredients of this recipe can be found at many North Queensland beaches, blue threadfin salmon or bluey, the tasty little sand clams known as pippies, and of course beer from the local beachside bar.

Blue salmon get a bit of a bum rap as eating fish, a bit like tailor further south. The two fish look very similar from the neck down, fill the same role as inshore pelagic predators, and can be caught using similar tactics with pilchards and chrome lures. They also share oily , rather strong flavoured flesh that cooks up a bit dark and is best eaten fresh. Many fishos like the taste, myself included, but for other palates a bit of extra flavour might enhance the eating experience. I’m sure this recipe would work just as well with tailor fillets for our southern readers.

Deglazing the pan.

Ingredients:

Live pippies , a big handful per person. You can find our little northern pippies on most sand beaches, mid to low tide with a bit of wave action is the best time. Look for pippies rolling in the backwash from each wave to locate productive areas. Leave the shellfish in a bucket of seawater for a few hours so they eject any sand they may be holding.

Skinless blue salmon or tailor fillets, approx 200grams per person

A can or stubby of full strength beer

Olive oil for frying

Salt and pepper to taste

Lemon or lime juice to taste

Gently fry the fillets till cooked through.

Method

Bring a large frying pan to high heat, add the drained pippies in the shell and cover at once. The shellfish will die instantly, opening their shells. Remove the cover after a minute or so and add about half the can of beer. Don’t drink all the rest, you’ll need some later. Stir and continue to cook on high heat until the sauce formed by the beer and pippy juice starts to reduce and thicken a little. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.

Once the pippies are cool enough to handle, remove them from the pan, reserving the pan sauce in a heatproof bowl. Remove the flesh from the shells and return to the sauce with a pinch of pepper to taste. The seawater from the pippy shells should make the sauce salty enough.

Meanwhile, use some of the leftover beer to deglaze the dirty frying pan used for the pippies. Add the fish fillets and a dash of oil and fry gently on medium heat until just cooked through, turning once. When the fish is nearly done reheat the pippy topping in the microwave for 30 seconds or so and spoon over the cooked fillets. Add salt to taste if needed and squeeze over a little lemon or lime juice.

Bob is happy with his plump blue salmon.