Thai Grilled Sea Bream
Sea bream is perfect for grilling. It’s a firm-fleshed white, oily fish that’s full of flavour. Try this Asian-inspired recipe for a fragrant and fresh twist. Serve with a fiery dipping sauce and herb salad. Tip: ask your fishmonger to gut and scale the fish ready for cooking.
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
For the fish:
- 1 x 500-600g whole Sea bream, gutted, cleaned and scaled
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 lemongrass stalks, thinly sliced
- 2 red chillies, deseeded and sliced
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced finely
- thumb sized fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
For the dipping sauce:
- 2-3 limes, juice squeezed to yield 2 tbsp of juice
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 1 tbsp palm sugar (or caster sugar)
- 1 tsp soy sauce or kecap manis
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped finely
For the salad:
- 1 bunch coriander leaves, washed and dried
- 1 bunch mint leaves, washed and dried
- ½ cucumber, cut in ribbons using a peeler
- ½ red onion, peeled and sliced finely
Method
- Pat the fish dry with kitchen paper.
- Use a sharp knife to score the fish and rub with the oil.
- Combine the prepared lemongrass, chillies, spring onions, garlic and ginger. Stuff the fish cavity with half the mix, cover the fish with the rest.
- Heat the griddle pan over a high heat. When smoking hot carefully add the fish. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Carefully lift the fish from the pan onto a large plate or board.
- Reduce the heat to medium and cook for a further 8 minutes or until the flesh is just cooked. The flesh should be opaque.
- Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Combine the salad ingredients in a serving bowl. Add half the sauce to the salad and toss to combine.
- Pour the remaining sauce into a small bowl and serve with the fish.
