Asian-inspired baked fish š
15 min to prep, 15 min to bake for a home-cooked, restaurant-quality healthy meal. What more could one ask for! What’s more, it has no added salt or oil.
Youāre probably sick (and sceptical) of me saying āquick and healthyā with every other recipe I post. So all Iām going to say isā¦
– 15 mins to prep
– 15 mins to cook
– No added salt
– No added oil
Iāve been wanting to use banana leaves in my cooking for a while now. To be honest, I thought it would be more fiddly than it was. Once dipped in hot water, however, it became pliable enough to easily wrap the fish. The only thing I would do differently next time is not use so much strength when tying the string. I ripped through the leaf in parts š¬ Baking the fish in the banana leaf gave it a really nice subtle aroma. However, if you canāt find banana leaves close to home, donāt fret! You can use foil or baking paper to wrap the fish instead.
I cooked using basa but you can use any white fish (barramundi, cod, hammour, dory) for this recipe.
Asian Style Fish Baked in Banana Leaf
Course: MainCuisine: ThaiDifficulty: Medium2
servings15
minutes15
minutes30
minutesIngredients
1 large banana leaf
2 fillets white fish (basa / cod)
1-2 cloves garlic
Ā½ā ginger
1 tsp lime zest
Ā½ lime juice
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
100ml (Ā¼ can) coconut milk
1Ā½ tbsp fish sauce
Ā½ sliced red chillies
coriander leaves (garnish)
Directions
- Prep leaves
- Cut the leaf in half (roughly 30cm square).
- Bring a large pot of water to boil.
- Using tongs, dip the banana leaf in and remove it immediately. This makes the leaf pliable.
- Place the leaf under running water so it cools down.
- Use paper towels to wipe clean and pat dry.
- Prep marinade
- Add all the ingredients (except coriander leaves) to a chopper and mix.
- Use HALF of the mix to coat the fish.
- Set to marinate in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
- Wrap & Bake
- Pre-heat oven to 180C.
- Place the banana leaves in a baking tray.
- Place each piece of fish at the centre of the leaf.
- Wrap and tie with a kitchen string (or fasten with toothpicks).
- Bake for 15 mins (for Basa, could take +/- 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish).
- Prep sauce
- Pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan and cook on low heat for 10 minutes.
- When the sauce has reduced and thickened, take off the flame.
- Serve
- Carefully unwrap the banana leaf and using a slotted spatula take out the fish and place in your serving plate.
- Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves and sliced red chillies.
- Serve with steamed rice.
