The Australian Seafood Festival

Australia is famous for kangaroos, koalas and prime beef that needs minimal attention to melt in the mouth. And it is just as famous for its seafood, which is unique for several reasons.

Australia's fishing industry operates in one of the world's cleanest environments. Australia contains one of the most diverse marine faunas in the world because of its geographical isolation from other continents and its wide range of sea habitats that go from tropical to sub-Antarctic waters.

Each year more than 600 species of marine and freshwater seafood are caught and sold for local and overseas consumption. Australia is one of the largest producers of abalones and rock lobsters - and Australian pearls are, incidentally, considered the most valuable in the world.

Fortunately Australia likes to share its treasures and you can sample some of Australia's seafood delicacies as prepared by the Italian master chef Stefano de Geronimo at the Westin Shanghai. The hotel is flying in two or three times a week delightful treats like barramundi, blue fin tuna, red emperor, and Coffin Bay oysters. The Australian Seafood Festival menu will feature, among other sumptuous dishes, nine Coffin Bay oysters on snow balls with a lemon wedge and fresh shallot vinegar - for 250 yuan ($37); southern blue fin tuna and lobster carpaccio with a pink peppercorn lemon oil infusion; pan-fried Barramundi fillet with porcini mushrooms and brandy sauteed root vegetables in a gratined mornay sauce with green asparagus. Especially recommended is the char-grilled southern blue fin tuna (265 yuan).

Prego Restaurant, the Westin Bund Center Shanghai

Add: No 88 Henan Central Road

Seafood Festival Date: 21 June to 20 July

Daily from Nagasaki, Japan

Chef Darrel Pan, the deputy executive Chef on 56 Kobachi, who has been working at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai for the past 13 years, is just back from Nagasaki and is launching his summer seafood menu which will run from today to the end of August.

"The auction for fresh fish in Nagasaki is held daily at the market there at 5 am. So we had to wake at 3 am and drive to the fish market where crowds of buyers were bidding for all the varieties of fish," the Shanghainese chef Pan said describing his experiences at the Nagasaki seafood market.

"If you don't get the fish you want you won't be able to serve it at night and this puts a constant pressure on the chefs and buyers. The process is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. There is a complex relationship between the fisherman and the middleman, the organizations and the market people as well as the commercial fish distributors."

After the auction, the fish are rushed to airports in Nagasaki and Fukuoka by 10 am and are delivered to the hotels, restaurants and buyers in Shanghai by late afternoon on the same day. On Fridays and Mondays there are direct flights between Nagasaki and Shanghai, so on those days there are usually more people from Shanghai at the auction. The chef's summer seafood specialties include grilled Japanese sea bass with sansho pepper, seared amber jack with green onion-ponzu sauce, grilled scallop and beef roll with shiso leaves, and his recommended dish is grilled sweetfish with pickles and baby leaves (160 yuan). Pan said the sweetfish comes from streams in the mountains and is only available in summer. The firm and exquisite fish meat comes with a bold sea salt seasoning which brings out the savory taste of the fish and its taut texture is unequalled even by sea fish.

Kobachi, Grand Hyatt Shanghai

Add: Jinmao Tower 88, Century Boulevard, Pudong new area

Chef 's Summer Specialties date: July 1 to 31 August.

Shanghai's biggest fish market

The 24-hour Tongchuan Road fish market can get particularly crowded on summer nights, especially when there's football on television and cold beers are being served.

Be careful as you shop. Sometimes you might have to check the weight of your chosen fish a few times before paying your money and taking the fish away. Some of the stallholders have been known to play with their scales even with Shang-hainese. So if you are not Shanghainese be careful.

Choose your fish and shellfish carefully. Look carefully at the fish, make sure it is alive, that its flesh is well colored and firm, that there are no scars or marks and that the eyes are clear. For clams, take them out of the water and make sure the shells close quickly.

Local favorite seafoods are long, sharp razor clams (chun zi), fat sea scallops (shan bei), and ribbon fish (dai yu), all available for under 40 yuan a kilogram.

Afterwards, take your haul to Xin Jiulong Tang, the seafood kitchen joint right on Tongchuan Road near Caoyang Road, where they will turn your live charges into tasty dishes. Usually the eatery charges by weight. Transforming ribbon fish into luscious red-glazed bite-sized pieces costs 10 yuan for about half a kilogram. Scallops can be steamed for just 2 yuan per piece.

Tongchuan Road Shanghai Fish Market

Add: Tongchuan Road, near Caoyang Road, Putuo district

Xin Jiulong Tang

Add: 920 Tongchuan Road, Putuo district