The fish was supposed to be our lunch yesterday but it didn’t thaw early enough. It thawed in time for dinner. So, it became dinner. It was a rather large fish kilogram (trevally) that wouldn’t fit in the steamer so I decided to bake it. Now, plain baked fish with plain white rice would have been too darn plain and boring. So I jazzed up my rice by cooking it with turmeric and coconut milk.
Baked fish and turmeric rice
And, to add even more flavor, color, and texture, a sweet and tangy side salad with tomatoes, cucumber, chili, lemon juice, and sweet ripe mangoes. It is summer, after all, the much-awaited mango season, and mangoes these days are sweet, inexpensive, and simply luscious.
Too complicated and labor intensive? Of course not! The rice was cooked in the microwave so it needed very little supervision. I prepared the salad while the rice cooked and while the fish baked in the oven. By the time the fish was done, it was all a matter of assembly.
Ingredients
1 whole (or your preferred firm and fleshy fish), see notes below
Score the fish (see how). Rub with salt and pepper, working both the salt and pepper into the slits and cavity.
Baked talakitok (trevally)
Take two long sheets of aluminum foil (should be longer than the fish). Lay one sheet of foil on a baking tray and brush with half of the sesame seed oil. Lay the fish on the oiled sheet. Brush the inside of the other sheet with the remaining sesame seed oil and cover the fish with it, the oiled side touching the fish. Crimp the edges of the two sheets of foil together to seal the fish completely. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
turmeric-coconut rice
While the fish bakes, prepare the rice and salad.
Place the rice with a cup of water in a microwavable bowl. Cook on HIGH, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Take out the rice, add the coconut milk, some salt and pepper, and stir lightly. Cover. Return to the microwave and cook on MEDIUM for five minutes. Leave in the microwave to allow the rice to finish cooking in its own steam.
Ideally, the fish and the rice should finish cooking at the same time. Make the salad so that it is freshly made by the time you assemble your dish.
Mango and tomato salad
Cut the tomatoes. cubes. Scrape the seeds off the cucumber and cut the flesh. cubes as well. Finely slice the chili. Cut the mango flesh. cubes. Place all of them in a bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice over them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the roughly chopped cilantro and toss everything lightly.
Baked fish, mango and tomato salad, and turmeric rice
Assemble your dish. Place a mound of rice on one side of the plate. Lay a generous amount of fish beside it. Smother with the salad and have a lovely, lovely meal.
