Ask anyone in the Kuta / Seminyak area where to get fresh fish, and they’ll say Jimbaran. The local fishing fleet is based here, at Kedonganan. At night you can see lights dotting the horizon, and during the day the boats are parked up on the beach. The fish market is a ramshackle affair, with vendors, sitting tightly packed, calling out at passers by, to come and take a look at their fish. You can find tuna, barracuda, snapper, squid, shrimp, lobsters, all kinds of great stuff, for a cheap price. In the past I have picked up 5 kilos of tuna for 50,000rp. The deal with getting fish at Jimbaran is a 4 step thing, in my opinion.
Step 1. You want fresh fish, so look for fish with clear eyes and a firm feel. When fish start to go off, their eyes get misty and the fleshy is limp.
Step 2. Gutting the fish. Tell the seller to gut it for you.
Step 3. Keeping the fish cool. Riding around with a bag of fish on your motorbike is no good, I’ve tried. You need get a cooler, either plastic or styrofoam, with ice, to keep the fish cold on the journey home.
Step 4. Make your life easier, by choosing fish that are easy to deal with. Forget snapper, as they are a boney, spiney fish, covered in scales. After trying to deal with a snapper, you’ll promise yourself never again. A mackerel is way easier to deal with. Best way to deal with snappers back at home, is to butterfly them open, and chuck them on the grill, after you apply whatever marinating process you have in mind of course.
With a barracuda, which is long, my preferred way would be to slice it length-ways. With a tuna, you can cut into into steaks, or simply butterfly it.
