Restaurant dishes out giant garoupa

Zhao Quan Yin, Evelyn Choo Channel NewsAsia 29 Jun 10;

SINGAPORE : The owner of a restaurant in Singapore has reeled in a man-sized Queensland garoupa off the coast of Sabah. And he expects to feed 600 customers with it.

The garoupa weighs 150 kilogrammes and is two metres long. It is so big that it had to be brought in on Monday morning using a forklift.

It took nine fishermen one hour to capture the underwater gladiator, which is now waiting to be prepared by chefs at the restaurant.

There are many ways to cook this S$3,000 purchase - most of it will be steamed, while some parts will be stewed.

Johnny Tan, owner, 2nd Kitchen Restaurant, said: "We'll split its body into 12 parts, all of which will be prepared differently. They'll taste different too. The best part of this fish is the throat."

It could be hard to swallow, but every 200-gramme serving will be sold at S$20. That could amount to a S$15,000 profit for the restaurant!

Over a hundred customers have made reservations for a share of this deep sea wonder.

- CNA/al

Giant haul
Today Online 29 Jun 10;

This giant garoupa can feed 600 people. Last Friday, Mr Johnny Tan, the owner and chef of 2nd Kitchen restaurant in Balestier Road received a call from his fishermen that they had caught a 2.1-m-long Queensland garoupa in the waters off Sabah. It had taken nine fishermen and an hour to haul it onto their boat. In the early hours of Saturday at Jurong Port, Mr Tan used a forklift to load the 150-kg fish onto a lorry. The fish was covered with 200kg of ice. More than 100 customers have said they are interested in tasting the giant fish, said Mr Tan, 48.

Don Wong