During our recent tour of South East Asia, we had the opportunity to try different cuisines and very different recipes, some didn’t sit very well with our views living in the UK, for example the copious amounts of salt used in this recipe. Note, the whole skin with salt can be discarded before eating and as with any recipe you can adjust to your taste.
The first time we had this was in the Ao Nang Street market in Thailand, that was it, was love at first nibble and we kept on ordering it at restaurants and other street markets during our whole stay.
Even in its simplicity the recipe makes for a lovely satisfying dish, and once you have tried it I hope we will be in agreement.
Remove onto a large dish, gently and carefully open the foil, flake off the salt then peel off the skin and discard.
Serve piping hot, with some boiled new potatoes or buttery mash.
Break off chunks of fish, dip in sauce and enjoy!
Ingredients
Ingredients for dip
- Handful Coriander stalks
- 1 large clove fresh Garlic
- 2 tbs freshly squeezed Lime
- Qtr tsp Salt
- 2 tsp brown (or other) Sugar
- 3 Thai (or other) fresh red chillies
Ingredients for fish
- 1-1.5lb Whole Red snapper/Tilapia (or fish of your choice)
- Use 1lb fillet of fish if that is your preference
- 2 sprigs lemon grass sliced
- 2 inches galangal sliced
- 6 kaffir leaves
- 8 ozs Butter or Olive oil
- 8 tbs Salt (I know it seems like a lot!)
Method
- Place all ingredients into a chopper/blender and work the machine until ingredients are properly mixed.
- Remove into a dipping bowl and keep in the refrigerator.
Method for the fish
- You can leave the scales on the fish or de-scale, then wash in cold water.
- Make a deep slit in the whole side of the fish and stuff with the lemon grass, galangal and kaffir leaves.
- Take a large piece of foil and slather liberally with butter/margarine or plenty of olive oil, spread half the salt onto the fish. Place the fish onto this, and sprinkle the rest of the salt on top of the fish.
Wrap up the whole fish in foil and place on a hot BBQ or under a pre-heated grill. Cook for 15 mins and turn over, cook for a further 15 mins. (check by pressing the fish and feel that is cook, adjust cooking time as required)
Remove onto a large dish, gently and carefully open the foil, flake off the salt then peel off the skin and discard.
Serve piping hot, with some boiled new potatoes or buttery mash.
Break off chunks of fish, dip in sauce and enjoy!
