Thai seasonings of lime, ginger, lemongrass and fish sauce flavour layers of napa cabbage, green onions and hot peppers in this fabulous accompaniment to grilled fish, poultry and meat.
In the Caribbean, fish is often briefly marinated in lime juice and salt, then grilled and served with spicy pepper sauce. Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers are very spicy but give a true Caribbean taste. For a milder sauce, use jalape?eppers. A fish basket is especially convenient and makes turning fish on the grill a breeze.
A curry is a great place to add or substitute your favourite vegetables. Since commercial Thai curry paste is generally made with fish sauce or shrimp, we've used our own recipe, which makes enough for a few meals. If fish is part of your diet, you can substitute fish sauce for the salt.
Grilling a whole fish is easy – just remember to grease the grill (not the fish) so the skin doesn't stick to it. Any leftover flavoured butter keeps well for up to a week.
While this recipe calls for pickerel, any firm-fleshed white fish, such as halibut, whitefish or cod, will do. There is more batter than needed, but it makes it easier to dip the fish.
Sometimes Caroline serves stir-fried vegetables and rice with this fish.
Commercial Thai curry paste is generally made with fish sauce or shrimp, ingredients not on the list of edibles for most vegetarians. If fish is part of your vegetarian diet, substitute fish sauce for the salt. A curry is a great place to add or substitute favourite vegetables; broccoli, mushrooms or squash would all be great.
Delicate fish and seafood should stand in an acid-based marinade for no longer than 30 minutes. Any more than that means that the acid will begin to “cook” the fish, such as for seviche.
Fresh fennel adds a highly complementary licorice note to fish. If you have any leftover, slice it to add to a green salad. You can use skin-on fillets instead of a whole fish; just grill them skin side down.
