35 Minute Dinner: Coconut Lime Fish with Mango Salsa and Rice

Caribbean flavours I think are just so beautiful with fish. So I'm doing a fish dish with barramundi and essentially we make a bit of a marinade, we're going to have a coconut sauce that goes with it, serve it with rice and a beautiful mango salsa. Do you know Jo that this dish is very similar to one of the first things I ever cooked for my grandparents and my parents after becoming a professional chef. Really? Yeah. So this is a really emotional dish for me Jo. Oh no pressure on me at all. Not at all. So in with my extra virgin olive oil I've got some cumin, some paprika and some allspice and I'm just going to, actually I'll get you to do that for me Mike, can you chop me up some garlic and then just give it all a good mix and if you've got time this is basically going to be our marinade for the fish and you can pop this into the fridge for maybe half an hour, longer if you've got it but you know what as usual if you don't have time don't worry too much about it. I'm just going to pop my fish fillets in making sure that lovely marinade is going all over the fish. Lovely, thank you. You can actually just pop it straight in there and I'll give it a good mix in and then I'm just going to take a little lime zest. You're going to see lime going into pretty much every element in this dish. There's just something about lime that is so fresh and vibrant and it just works with those coconutty, tropicaly kind of flavours. It's one of my favourite citrus. I love the fact that you're using the zest as well. I feel it's so much, almost better than juice sometimes with marinades. So I'm using the zest and the juice going in there so I really get that beautiful zesty flavour. So into the salsa will go the mango, we've got red capsicum, red onion, a bit of garlic's going in there too, a bit more lime juice of course and I think it's that mix of getting the sweetness with the kick of the chilli, you've got the citrusy acid of the lime going in and it's just that combination of flavours that really works. So you want a nice hot pan, I'll just drizzle with a little extra oil and then I'm going to pop my fish fillets in and the good thing about barramundi is it's a nice firm fish and the trick is don't overcook fish. I think everyone gets a bit scared about fish being not cooked well enough and so we end up overcooking it. Now into this little pan we're going to make our coconut lime sauce. So I've got some coconut milk, I'm going in with more lime of course. Lime, lime, lime. It's all about the lime dish really in this dish isn't it? So the zest and again the juice is going in here. Just slice that in half for me would you? A few little chilli flakes and some of this lovely honey. Thank you. Lime juice. You're gonna, you're gonna cook this sauce? I'm gonna heat it up and just let it slightly simmer just for a few minutes to kind of thicken up nicely without boiling. You don't want the sauce to split so I don't want it to be too hot. Yeah. I'm gonna flip this fish. It's got a gorgeous little colour to it hasn't it, that fish? I do love barramundi. Oh it's a beautiful fish. I never had it until I came to Australia. Yeah. It's a fish very, very specific to this country. Definitely. It's gorgeous. Turn the heat down on my pan and put the lid on because these are quite thick fillets so that'll just help to steam it through without overcooking. I'm going to put a little salt in here and a little black pepper. All we're going to do is put the rice into the microwave. Mike's going to finish off the salsa and then we can come back and plate up. So then to plate up all we're going to do is have a nice pile of rice. I do like how you managed to get another grain in there though. Rice and quinoa. I like that little mix. I almost prefer quinoa when it's mixed with the brown rice and then we're going to pop one of our fish fillets onto the top. So see how I was sort of just using those juices in the pan to baste the fish? Pop that on top of your rice. That looks cooked to perfection. I hope so. And this part honestly this sauce I mean how simple was that but honestly it is so so tasty. Just pour that over the top letting some of that soak into your grains underneath and this gorgeous mango salsa on the side brings that little tang of freshness. Well you promised colour. You've delivered Jo. Look at that. A little lime wedge on the side and honestly is that is that good? Did I pass the Caribbean test? I'll tell you in a minute. Can I? Yes please do. Did I do it? Yes. Well done. That is good Jo. There's so much flavour in there. The spice really aromatic. Absolutely banging. Such a simple way to get the kids eating fish. I think it's a family meal right? Enjoy.