This dish is loosely based on a meal some random guy in Fiji made for me a lifetime ago.
Don't want to hear me ramble on and on... get just the recipe here!
My ex-husband and I went to Fiji for our honeymoon at some fancy-pants place. Tom Cruise had his yacht parked out front to use the spa services… so that kind of fancy. It was not a place we would typically stay, but Brit’s parents had some points for us to use. Our neighbors next door were “backpacking” through Fiji at the same resort, and we became fast friends. Kallan, now one of my dear friends, hired a local to take him fishing one day. They ended up catching a ton of fish, and Nicco (the local) invited him to his private island about a mile off our beach for dinner with their catch. Kallan, realizing this was relatively sketchy, invited us to join… and of course we said absolutely. As you do. A guy we barely know… a local we don’t know… a private vacant island… a boat you have to bail water out of while operating… oh, and it’s getting dark. Sign me up! The one thing I did know was that we could make the swim if needed because we were doing a lot of Ironmans at the time, and it couldn’t have been over a mile. Fast-forward: everything was fine. We made awesome new friends, and Nicco made a meal for us that was so good it inspired one of my favorite fish dishes to make.
Recipe Supplies:
• Sole (2 lbs. Or any light white fish... we used rabbit fish in Fiji, but I can't find that at Lazy Archers).
• Egg (1)
• White onion (1)
• Red Onion (1)
• Cilantro (bushel)
• Panko (enough to crust fish)
• Coconut Cream (1 can)
• Cayanne (to taste)
• Tarragon (to taste)
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)
• Onion and Garlic Powder (to taste)
Rice Supplies:
• Jasmine Rice (1 1/2 cup)
• Lime (6)
• Kerrygold Butter (enough for rice)
Instructions:
Chop the cilantro, onions, and slice your limes.
Start cooking the rice — either in a pan or a rice cooker.
Next, make your sauce. Pour a can of coconut cream into a frying pan on low heat and slowly bring up the temperature. Season with salt, onion and garlic powder, cayenne, tarragon, and a little lime to taste. You want a little kick and lots of flavor in the sauce. Once you like the taste, keep stirring and keep the sauce warm in the pan.
For the fish, whisk an egg into a small bowl and coat each piece. Pat a generous (but not too much) amount of panko on both sides of each piece of fish. You want to taste fish with a little crunch of panko… not the other way around. Then season with salt and pepper, onion and garlic powder, and cayenne.
Bring everything together.
By now, the rice should be cooked. Mix in enough butter to coat the rice. Then add salt and pepper. Finally, add a hefty amount of the cut cilantro and squeeze in the juice of a few limes (roll the limes on a cutting board first to get maximum juice). Stir everything and taste. You want a nice flavor of lime, cilantro, and buttery rice. Season more if something is missing (lime, salt, cilantro, etc.).
In another frying pan, bring the heat up to medium/high (not too high — you don’t want to burn the panko). Melt butter and EVOO to generously coat the pan. Once the pan is hot, cook your fish (usually only a few minutes on each side). You want a nice browning on the panko without drying out your fish or overcooking it.
Once the fish is done, lay down a bed of rice on each plate, top with a piece of fish, and pour on a decent amount of coconut cream sauce. Finish with a large amount of chopped cilantro and onion, and squeeze a lime wedge over the top.
