Shellfish barbecue

In the last of our Phil Vickery Down Under series, Phil heads out to one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef.

Visible from space, the Reef is as breath-taking from above as it is below - so what better way for Phil to be introduced to it than from a bird's eye view? Cue the Sea Plane!

With his legs dangling in the crystal waters whilst sitting on the paddles of the sea plane, Phil speaks with a local marine expert before jumping in and going snorkelling to find out how coral-ful it really is.

Back on dry land Phil meets island chef Grant Murray to discover more about the seafood found around the Whitsunday Islands before signing off the series with a show-stopping shellfish barbecue.

With thanks to

Tourism AustraliaDestination NSWTourism QueenslandOne & Only Hayman Island

Barbecued shellfish with Asian dipping sauce

Serves: 6-8 persons

All the ingredients for the sauce here are rough approximations; you can add more of less to suit your tastes. All the fish I used had been freshly cooked.

Preparation time: 40 minutesCooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

12 small shell off fresh water prawns8 large whole freshwater prawns1 large crab6 King crab claws, cracked2 lobster tails, cracked or peeled6 Moreton Bay Bugs (crab, langoustine or lobster if you can’t get bugs)

Dipping Sauce

50g fresh ginger, finely chopped2 red chilies75mls soy sauce75mls mirin75mls rice wine vinegarfew pinches sugar1 small bunch Thai basil, roughly chopped150g carrot strips100g hot radish strips 200g bean sprouts100g cooked rice noodles12 fresh oysters4 large limes

• Cook all the shellfish first.

• Season well then grill gently, brushing with oil occasionally.

• Place all the ingredients for the dip into a bowl and really mix well.

• Layer up the shellfish, carrots, bean sprouts and noodles.

• Pour over a little of the sauce, serve the rest alongside.

• Add fresh oysters and halves of lime.

• Crusty bread is all you need