Bayside Catch · Slipper Lobster
Moreton Bay Bug
Photo: Kingturkey / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Despite its lobster-like taste, a Moreton Bay bug isn't a lobster at all — it's a flattened slipper lobster with its eyes set at the outer edges of its shell, the detail used to tell it apart from Sydney's near-identical Balmain bug.
Named for the bay that shelters Brisbane's coastline, this broad, flat-bodied crustacean is split, brushed with garlic butter and grilled or barbecued whole, then eaten by hand, tail meat pulled straight from the shell. Queensland seafood markets and bayside stalls sell it fresh, especially through the late-spring to summer peak season.
Why it's made this way: The bugs are caught in the shallow, sandy waters of Moreton Bay off Brisbane, and their local abundance made them a cheap catch that Queenslanders turned into a bayside seafood favourite in their own right.
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