I have always loved going to the markets. As lame as this sounds, a visit to the local fresh food markets leaves me feeling rejuvenated and alive. Today, I found myself picking produce based on how amazing it looked.
My booty from the market. Deliciousness.
I ended up buying the cleanest looking snapper I’d ever seen and thought I would share its delicious journey with you.
Now, cooking any fish is always a little bit scary. There are so many things that can go wrong – under-cooking, overcooking, having a fishy that tastes too fishy etc. Let me tell you – this recipe is going to revolutionise the way you look at cooking fish at home. This will be life changing. It’s so easy, even I didn’t mess it up. The best thing about it is that you only need about 10 minutes prep time and it’s full of flavour. It’ll make you look like Gordon Ramsey. This recipe is great for two, or for one who doesn’t want to worry about making dinner again tomorrow.
I’m here to help you look like Gordon Ramsay. Hot.
What you’ll need:
- 2 little Snapper fishies (these were about 350g each)
- A thumb-sized piece of ginger
- A thumb-sized piece of turmeric
- A bunch of coriander
- Two red, super duper hot, thai chilis
- Two lemons
- Salt
- Pepper
- Paprika
- All purpose seasoning (this Masterfoods stuff – this isn’t a sponsored post, promise)
- Olive oil
Okay, got all your things in order? Let’s pull this all together.
1. Clean your fish. Nope, I don’t care if the fisherman told you that it’s cleaned and ready to cook, I promise you that it’s not ready for cooking. You’re going to want to clean out the insides of the fishy. I didn’t take a picture of this process, but here’s a good step by step.
2. Sprinkle a little salt onto the fishies and let them sit in your sink while you cut up all your other ingredients. My mum swears that this is the best way to ensure that the fish doesn’t go too fishy. I have a feeling it has something to do with the salt, but let’s just believe my mum. Or don’t, whatever.
3. Cut up your coriander, ginger and turmeric as finely as humanely possible. Just cut that shit right up. DON’T CUT UP YOUR CHILLI YET. HOLD YOUR HORSES.
The one on the left is ginger, the one on the right is turmeric. It’s confusing.
4. PUT ON SOME GLOVES. WEAR. SOME. GLOVES. I REPEAT. WEAR SOME GLOVES. You really don’t want to rub your eye later and you don’t want to touch any sensitive spots on your body because the chilli essences will live there forever and destroy all the things.
5. Cut up the chilli just as finely (there is a very mild chilli flavour in this recipe. SO mild. If you’re looking for more of a kick, you’re going to need at least 4 of these bad boys).
6. Chuck it all in a bowl and add a light drizzle of olive oil. Mix it all up.
7. Squeeze the juice of one of your lemons and add it into the bowl. Mix again. I know, I’m sorry, I just made you mix something twice. It’s okay, you need to work out your arms.
8. Cut up all the lemon (including that one you just squeezed) into pretty circles.
9. Put two diagonal slices into each side of your fish. It’s a good way to make all the goodness sink in.
10. Sprinkle some salt, pepper, paprika and all purpose seasoning in and on your fish. Rub it in. Be gentle. Show these guys how much you love them.
11. Divide your coriander mix in half and use it to coat the inside and outside of your fish. Push it right into those gaps and into the slits on the flesh. You want it to get right in there. Let it marinade in the fridge for 15 minutes or so. In the meantime, preheat your fanforced oven to 180 degrees C.
Fishies, all ready to go.
12. You deserve a break now. Browse the internet and have some nuts. If you’re feeling fancy, have a Diet Coke on ice.
Parcels of joy.
13. Wrap each fish individually in a layer of baking paper and aluminium foil. The easiest way to do this is to lay out a piece of aluminium and layer a slightly smaller piece of baking paper onto. Add two lemon slices, then the fish, then two more lemon slices and seal the babies up. I don’t like putting lemon inside the fish because it tends to go bitter. The lemon juice is in there though, so don’t worry.
14. Place your sweeties into the oven. Remember, about 180 degrees C. Bake them for 30 minutes on the first size, then about 15 minutes on the other (again, my dad reckons this is the optimal baking time. You can ignore this recommendation, but then your fish is going to be ew and it’ll be your fault).
16. Serve! I served my fishy up with some coconut steamed rice and it was amazing (you want to know how to make coconut steamed rice? Okay, laziest method ever – I got a plastic container, filled it up with rice about a quarter of the way, and poured enough coconut and water [1:1 ratio] to cover the rice. Threw it in my steamer and waited for the magic to happen. It was cooked in the last 15 minutes of fish baking time. You can find a better, more specific recipe elsewhere).
Snapper fresh out of the oven. Look at all them juices. Mmmm.
Finished product. If you’re trying to impress people, you probably want to try a little harder with the presentation.
DONE. Tell me what your favourite fish recipes are. Make sure they’re easy and lazy.
Happy lazy baking!
Halal love to you all.
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