YOU could say that seafood is in Alan Lee's blood.

The 28-year-old head chef of Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro comes from a family that was in the seafood wholesale business.

'I've always been seafood crazy. I get excited with any new product that's weird and different,' he says.

After graduating from the Singapore Polytechnic where he studied electrical engineering, he decided to shore up his knowledge of seafood by taking on cooking apprenticeships at a series of restaurants.

In 2003, when Greenwood Fish Market opened in Greenwood Avenue, he became its buying consultant, offering a wide range of seafood including up to 20 varieties of fish a day.

Soon after, the affable bachelor took over the adjoining bistro's kitchen, where he's been dishing out creative seafood dishes.

Why this obsession with seafood?

I just like doing something that not many other people do. Many Singaporeans are actually quite new to cooking seafood. I've got customers who come in and point at clams, thinking that they're mussels.

And seafood is something that's hard to cook right. It's so easy to overcook it. The window of perfection is very narrow.

What's the most unusual species of seafood you serve?

Alfonsino, a bright orange-red fish I get from New Zealand. It's very ugly, with eyes that are 4cm in diameter and sharp scales that cut you. But the uglier the fish, the better it tastes - like monkfish and John Dory.

For the alfonsino, I just pan-fry it with a little clarified butter. It's very silky in texture, a tad oily and has a real taste of the sea.

What's the most overrated fish?

Cod. People like it because it's very smooth and fatty. But other than that, it doesn't actually have a lot of flavour on its own.

What's the most underrated fish?

Hapuku or hapuka, a huge fish from New Zealand that weighs 20kg on average. It's an outstanding fish - my favourite fish of the year. But it's not available very often.

It defies the saying that the older the fish, the tougher its meat. When you cook 10cm fillets of this fish, it actually gets softer and retains all the moisture inside. The flavour is indescribable - I can say only that it has a real fish taste.

What dish are you most famous for?

Red miso cod with butternut pumpkin and roasted eggplant (right). Strangely enough, I came up with this dish when I was eating chee cheong fun (steamed rice rolls). The sauce was so good that I thought I'd impart it to a fish. Straightaway, I thought of using miso (Japanese bean paste).

But instead of using the usual salty miso, I use sweet miso. I also give colour to the miso by adding beetroot reduction.

What's your ultimate favourite food?

I'm a sucker for good wonton noodles. Fei Fei Yan Kee Noodle House in Joo Chiat Place is outstanding for its noodles. I also like the nice, caramelised char siew at this wonton mee stall in East Coast Laguna hawker centre, but I think it's moved after the renovation.

What's the best meal you've ever had?

Some years ago, my uncle and I were gallivanting in Malacca when we got half-drunk and decided to eat. My uncle, who is from there, took me to a place that sold stingray curry with roti canai. It was so spicy and shiok that we sobered up straight away. It was the first and last time I had stingray curry because the stall had moved the next time I went back.

What's the most creative dish you've made with seafood?

Hot-smoked salmon and pumpkin pie. But I hate making it because it takes so much work. Everything is done from scratch. I make the dough, smoke the salmon, roast the pumpkin and make the cream cheese mixture myself. But it'll be on the menu in December for the festive season.

What's one common mistake people make when cooking seafood?

Overcooking fish. In most chap chye png (mixed rice) stalls, you see Spanish mackerel that's fried till it's dead three times over. It totally kills the flavour of the fish.

What would you serve to convert someone who doesn't like fish?

A fish that's mild-flavoured and meaty like halibut, snapper and, of course, hapuku. The latter will win you over on the first try. If you don't like it, I'll resign.

What would your last meal be?

Wonton noodles with lots of chilli.

From now until Nov 30, Citibank credit card members get 20 per cent off every order of the red miso cod dish.