Carnarvon is the food bowl of Western Australia’s Coral Coast, with thriving fishing, fruit and vegetable industries — yielding perfect ingredients for a tasty dinner of fish tacos followed by a mango and banana dessert.
After weeks caravanning from Melbourne, up the centre and across the Kimberley on the Gibb River Road, we were itching to arrive in Broome and enjoy some fresh seafood — and it didn’t disappoint.
Fish tacos washed down with ginger beer became our new favourite dinner and we enjoyed many iterations of both at Broome’s breweries, taverns and even from a food truck at the Thursday night market at Town Beach.
I made a personal pledge to try to replicate fish tacos and when we arrived in Carnarvon, which has a thriving fishing industry, the scene was set.
Carnarvon is also the fruit and vegetable bowl of the Coral Coast. Banana plantations greet you as you drive into town and there are many orchards, farm gates and roadside food stalls where you can buy all manner of fresh produce including mangoes (in season), tomatoes, zucchini, corn, pumpkins, chillies and beans, to name a few.
My other half set out one arvo desperate to catch a fish at the local harbour, but alas was unsuccessful, so we paid a visit to local fishmongers, The Crab Shack, to buy a couple of fresh red emperor fillets caught that morning.
With locally caught fish and all the other ingredients for my tacos purchased from local farm gates, the only item I had to buy at the supermarket was the soft mini tortillas.
Fish tacos
Ingredients
(Judge your own quantities depending on how many people you are feeding)
- 2 red emperor fillets (any firm fish will do)
- Breadcrumbs or fish coating of your choice
- Red cabbage, thinly shredded or lettuce if you prefer
- Corn — chargrilled on the barbecue and then removed from the cob (you could use canned)
- Avocado — sliced
- Green chilli — sliced
- Fresh coriander sprigs and lime for garnish
- A dressing of mayonnaise mixed with a hot sauce such as sriracha to give it a bit of bite — I used some Tabasco sauce
Method
I portioned the fish into about six or seven smallish pieces, dipped them in an egg wash and coated with Tandaco Coating Mix for Lightly Seasoned Fish (any fine bread crumb mix will do) before shallow frying in a non-stick frypan over a low-medium heat.
Prepare all the other ingredients and place in bowls in the centre of the table so your diners can assemble their own tacos. My fish tacos were declared a success, and they will now go onto my dinner repertoire on high rotation.
Mango and banana parfait
The only downside to travelling north for the winter is that it’s not mango season. The good news is that many producers freeze their excess produce for the winter and sell to the public to use in smoothies, desserts and the like, so we stocked up the freezer where we could.
With some mango cheeks in the freezer and local Carnarvon bananas, I whipped up this parfait dessert — although it’s not a parfait in the traditional sense in that it is not frozen. It will keep covered in the fridge for a couple of days.
Ingredients
(Serves four)
- 8 digestive biscuits
- 200g mango flesh — about one whole mango (reserve some for garnish)
- 1 large banana (I used 2 small)
- 100ml coconut milk or cream
- 250ml vanilla yoghurt
Method
Blitz the digestive biscuits in a food processor (if you don’t have one with you, use a bowl and a cup to grind them into a find crumb — it’ll take a bit of elbow grease) and add some crumbs to the base of individual bowls/parfait glasses.
Blend the mango flesh, chopped banana and coconut milk in a food processor (or mash and stir) until smooth. Fold in the yoghurt gently — don’t stir or blend it with the fruit and coconut milk mixture as you want it to have a marbled-type effect.
Add a layer of mango mixture to your dishes and keep layering alternately with the crumbs, reserving some crumbs for the very top. Garnish with some fresh mango, or berries, or whatever you have on hand.
THE NEXT STEP
If you want to learn the latest caravan news, find the most innovative new caravans and camping gear or get inspired to plan your next adventure to some of Australia's best getaway destinations, subscribe to our weekly newsletter. We promise to send you only the best content.
Related articles:
The best beach camping spots in Western Australia
Easy recipes for caravanners: Lamb bake with Greek flavours
Easy recipes for caravanners: Carnarvon catch