Lime and Coconut Poached Fish

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Multicultural Inspiration from Asia

Upon hearing of my blogging venture, mum recently gave me a dvd that she believed I had to watch: Julie and Julia. For those of you who haven't seen it, it follows the story of Julie, a young lady sick of her job who finds an escape in food and food blogging She decides that she'll cook her way through the cook book of Julia Child's, "Mastering The Art of French Cooking" in 365 days. I didn't think I'd really like the movie - as much as I love my mum, we very rarely enjoy the same movies. But I watched it with a bottle of wine, and I loved it! There was so much (too much?) I could relate to!

I found myself wondering what book I'd be happy to cook my way through, when suddenly I realised, I have been cooking my way through a book! And not only cooking my way through, but watching it page by page on TV as well! For Easter, mum bought me Donna Hay's Fast, Fresh & Simple. Over the last few weeks, I'd been watching Donna bring this book to life on the TV show of the same name. And since I got the book, I've book marked a whole lot of pages, and have bee steadily cooking my way through them ever since!

Though neither Sous-Jeff or I are really seafood loving folk, I decided that with Donna's guidance and naturally my own little adjustments, I can't go wrong! So, with fresh fish purchased and tummies rumbling, I whip out my trusty new cook book and flip it open to page 46, and here's what happened...




You'll need:

• 1 cup of coconut milk (in the interest of keep us semi-healthy, I use light coconut milk and find the flavour really isn't compromised providing you still use good quality stuff)
•  1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
• finely grated zest of 1 lime (or with the actual recipe, 6 finely shredded kaffir lime leaves - i used zest coz I had no leaves!)
• 400g fresh, firm, white fish fillets (I prefer Rockling)
• Steamed jasmine rice and veggies, to serve.

First things first - I get all my ingredients ready to go, and a big fry pan to cook everything in. Also, to make cooking easier, if you get one super big piece of fish, slice in in half.

Combine the coconut milk, lime juice, lime zest/leaves and fish sauce in a large fry pan over medium-low heat.

Don't freak out like I did when I saw the fish sauce curdle with the coconut milk, and the not-so-delicious initial smell of the fish sauce - it's alllll normal and will taste delicious eventually! Brig to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 4 - 5 minutes.

Next up, add the fish into the pan and cook for a few minutes on each side, until they're tender and white inside.

Serve it up on a bed of rice and some steamed veggies, dividing the coconut sauce over the dishes (this recipe is enough for two people).

Tender, white and soft inside, swimming in yummy coconut and lime sauce (one of my absolute favourite flavour combinations), the rice to soak it all up, and the little bit of crunch from the veggies = yuuuuummm! Enjoy :)