This dish is loosely based on a meal some random guy in Fiji made for me a lifetime ago.
My ex-husband and I went to Fiji for our honeymoon at some fancy pants place in Fiji. Tom Cruise had his yacht (aka mini cruise ship) parked out in front to use our spa services… so that kinda fancy. It was not a place we would typically spend time at, but Brit’s parents had some good SPG points for us to use.
Our neighbors next door were “backpacking” through Fiji at our same resort, and we became fast friends. Kallan, who I know to this day and is one of my favorite buddies, hired a local to take him fishing one day. They ended up catching a ton of fish, and Nicco (the local) invited Kallan 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 that you have to empty water out of while operating… It’s also getting dark. Sign me up! The only thing I did know was we could make the swim if need be 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 became good friends with Nicco and Kallan, and Nicco made a meal for us that was so fun it inspired one of my favorite fish dishes to make.
Recipe Supplies:
- Sole (or any light white fish… we used rabbit fish in Fiji, but I can’t find that at Lazy Archers).
- Egg
- White onion
- Red Onion
- Cilantro
- Panko
- Coconut Cream
- Cayanne
- Tarragon
- Salt and Pepper
- Onion and Garlic Powder
- Jasmine Rice
- Lime
- Kerrygold Butter
Chop the cilantro, onions, and limes for juice and everything first. Set aside.
Rice:
Start cooking the rice. Either how you would in a pan or rice cooker.
Coconut Cream Sauce:
Pour a can of coconut cream into a frying pan at 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 to the sauce. Once you like the taste, keep stirring and keep the sauce warm in the pan.
Prep your fish:
Whisk an egg into a small bowl and coat each piece of fish. 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 it together:
By now, the rice should be cooked. Mix in enough butter to coat the rice. Then, salt and pepper. Finally, add in a hefty amount of the cut-up cilantro and squeeze in the juice of a few limes (roll limes on a cutting board before to get maximum juice). Stir everything and taste. Add seasoning, cilantro, lime, and butter until you get a good mix. Keep the rice warm.
In another frying pan, bring up the heat to medium/high (not too high to burn panko). Mix butter in EVOO in the pan to coat it generously once the pan is hot, cook your fish (usually only a few minutes on each side). You want to get 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, then cover with a piece of fish and pour on a decent amount of coconut cream sauce. Then finish with a large amount of cut cilantro and onion and squeeze in a lime wedge.
