Whole baked fish with fennel, chilli & lemongrass
Try this spicy, sweet and sticky whole fish with punchy fennel, chilli and lemongrass flavours for Good Friday. It's a simple yet sophisticated way to feed a crowd
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 2large Maris Piper or Désirée potatoes, thinly sliced
- 1large fennel bulb, thinly sliced through the roots
- 1tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for the fish
- 4garlic cloves, grated
- 45g palm sugar or light brown soft sugar
- 75ml fish sauce
- 75ml lime juice (from about 5 limes), plus slices to serve
- small handful of coriander, leaves picked and roughly torn, stalks finely chopped
- 2large mackerel (about 700g each), cleaned and gutted (sea bass or bream also work well)
- 2lemongrass stalks, bashed and broken in half
- 3spring onions, thinly sliced diagonally
- 1red chilli, thinly sliced
Instructions
Step 1
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 4. Line a large, high-sided roasting tin with baking parchment, then arrange the potato and fennel slices in the tray, layering them in overlapping rows alternately until they cover the whole tin and doubling up the layers if you have leftover slices. Season with salt. Brush over the vegetable oil, then roast for 15 mins, or until the edges of the veg have started to crisp up and caramelise.Step 2
Meanwhile, combine the garlic, palm or brown sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, coriander stalks and 75ml hot water in a small bowl.Step 3
Lightly season the inside and outside of the fish with salt, then put the lemongrass inside the cavities. Brush the fish lightly with oil. Remove the veg from the oven and lay the fish on top. Pour a little of the sauce inside each cavity, then the rest over the skin. Cover with foil and bake for 15 mins until the fish is nearly cooked and the flesh flakes easily.Step 4
Remove the foil for the final 10 mins of cooking. Heat the grill to high. Slide the fish under the hot grill briefly until the skin has browned and blistered. Scatter over the coriander leaves, spring onions, chilli and lime slices, then serve.