A common way to cook fish in Southeast Asia, the key to creating a tasty sauce in which to braise the fish is to saute the spice base until the solids separate from the oil. At this stage, caramelization has set in, and the spice base is at its tastiest.
Cook’s notes
A dish I cooked in 2010. That would have been a time when the girls were in college and living away from home on weekdays. This dish for two was surely meant it was for my husband and myself.
There are four steps in cooking this tilapia dish:
- Grind the spices and cilantro to a paste.
- Saute the paste.
- Add the tilapia fillets.
- Pour in the coconut cream.
Tilapia braised in spicy coconut cream
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 bird’s eye chili chopped
- 2 thumb-sized pieces ginger peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro roots and stems chopped
- 1 teaspoon rock salt or ½ teaspoon refined salt
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 tilapia fillets
- ½ to ¾ cup coconut cream
- fish sauce
- cilantro leaves (to garnish)
Instructions
- Pound and grind the chilies, ginger, garlic, salt and cilantro roots and stems using mortar and pestle or a small food processor until pasty.
- Heat the cooking oil in a pan. Add the paste. Saute until the solids start to separate from the oil.
- Add the tilapia fillets to the pan. Cook for about a minute then carefully flip over and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Pour in the coconut cream. Season with a tablespoon of fish sauce. Stir gently. Cook just until the sauce simmers.
- Taste the sauce and stir in more fish sauce, if needed.
- To serve, place the tilapia fillet over hot rice. Spoon some of the sauce around it.
- Chop the reserved cilantro leaves and sprinkle over the tilapia.
Coconut and lychee sorbet