Mulloway (Jewfish)

Also known as Jewfish, jewie, jew, soapie (small fish), schoolie, butterfish, river king

Long, thickset and silver-bronze, with a slightly concave forehead on bigger fish, a big mouth, and a bright silver lateral line that shows as a visible row of pores. The tail is squared-off to slightly rounded, never deeply forked, and young fish carry scattered silver spots along the flank. And yes — mulloway and jewfish are the same fish; jewfish is simply the eastern and older WA name. Confusingly, WA anglers also call dhufish 'jewfish', and that's a completely different deep-reef species. Size-class names: under about 60 cm they're 'soapies', to a metre 'schoolies', beyond that just a big jew.

Yes — mulloway is one of the best table fish in Perth: firm, white, large-flaked flesh that's mild and slightly sweet and holds together on the grill or in the pan better than almost anything else. Bleed and ice on capture; unbled jewfish go soft. Size matters more than usual here — the 'soapies' just over the 50 cm limit actually eat cleaner than big breeders, so there's no shame in keeping a modest one for the table, while a really big fish can be coarse and watery through the thickest part of the fillet. Pan-fry, bake, crumb, or cut thick cutlets and barbecue them; it's firm enough for curries and very good raw when it's fresh. It freezes better than most — skin, portion and vac-seal — which is just as well, given how much fillet comes off a decent fish.