By Amy Franklin
As the weather (sort of) gets warmer, it’s always nice to lighten up at meal times and embrace some lovely fresh ingredients. This is a simple but effective recipe that reminds me of a gorgeous holiday in Thailand where we ate fresh fish on the beach as much as possible. This isn’t strictly authentic but definitely brings it all back.
I did this one with some lovely rainbow trout from A M Fish Market on Atlantic Road, but it also works well with seabass or bream. They’ll gut and clean it for you – I left mine whole but you could get it filleted and just spread the marinade over the fillets. Everything I used for the marinade is available from the Nour Cash and Carry.
 Thai Baked Trout: serves 4
- 2 whole rainbow trout, gutted
- 1 whole red chilli, chopped (with seeds depending on preference)
- 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- Handful fresh coriander, stalks chopped, leaves kept whole
- Juice from 2 fresh limes
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Put all the ingredients except the fish into a pestle and mortar and give it all a good bash until it’s a coarse paste – add more of anything you’re a particular fan of. It should be smelling pretty good at this point.
Hold the fish open and spread the filling around inside the cavity, saving a little to put on top. Put the coriander leaves inside too. Line a baking tray with enough foil or baking parchment to wrap over the fish, and place them on the tray. Make a parcel by scrunching the foil/paper over the fish, but before sealing it just put a couple of tablespoons of water in the parcel – it then steams the fish and keeps it juicy.
Bake them at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven.
To take the fillets off the bone, just slide a knife alone one side of the spine and use a fish slice to gently lift the fillet off, then peel the exposed spine away to get to the other one. Dribble a bit of soy sauce over at the end along with any pan juices, and garnish with a sprig of coriander. I served it with some green salad and crunchy red peppers but it would also be good with coconut rice and some charred corn on the cob.
Amy also blogs at Feeding Franklin.
