A wander around a market in Southeast Asia can be a bit of a shocking experience for the unacquainted. Fish swim around lazily in tanks of water; crabs have their pincers tied up with coloured raffia but are otherwise free to crawl over one another in buckets. Freshness is the key when it comes to seafood. Seafood is often killed minutes before it enters a hot wok or steamer.

The idea of that would probably freak many out, but the flipside of neatly portioned fillets wrapped in sterile plastic with a sticker slapped on feels even weirder to me. There is no way of telling how fresh your fish is. You can’t see how glossy its eye is; you can’t poke its flesh to see if it’s firm or mushy; you can’t even smell it through all that packaging (or if you can, then you know it’s really gone off). I suggest visiting your local fishmonger. Not only will the range be bigger and the catch fresher, a good fishmonger will often give you advice for seasonal and sustainable options for your dish. Best of all, he will help you clean and prepare it the way you like it, saving you a lot of mess and headache in the kitchen.

Getting hold of seafood that’s fresh and in season is important because it is key to taste. Seafood that’s fresh has none of that fishy taste picky eaters complain of – just the sweetness of the sea. One of the simplest summer joys must be fresh mackerel, sardines or prawns straight off the grill with nothing more than a pinch of sea salt and a squeeze of lime juice. If I’m feeling in the mood for something stronger, I slather spicy sambal over (see barbecued sambal lemon sole, here). With fish that’s more delicate, I prefer a gentle steaming with a splash of soy sauce or a handful of salted vegetables and chilli (see Teochew steamed sea bream, here).

You will realize that most of the recipes in this chapter involve cooking the fish whole – the way it is most often done in Asia. This seems impressive or even intimidating, but is actually easy for beginners. It’s harder to overcook fish on the bone, and the results are almost always perfectly moist and tender. Seeing a fish head on your dinner table might take a bit of getting used to for some, but I assure you it is worth it and only a matter of time before you are fighting for the cheek.