Coconut Curry Hoki Bake
This Hoki bake has South-East Asian flavours, is really easy to make and is quite subtle - unless you don't want it to be! It is very forgiving and you can use more or less of an ingredient depending on your own taste. The bake goes well with cooked green beans and egg noodles.
Ingredients
• 1 kg Hoki (2 large fillets)
• 1 cup of long thread coconut (desiccated/flakes/fresh would work well too)
• 1 cup of coconut flavoured evaporated milk/light coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp of fish sauce or to taste
• Thumb of fresh ginger - peeled and grated
• A thumb of fresh turmeric - peeled and grated or 1 tspn dried tumeric
• A chilli with/without seeds – chopped or a pinch of dried chilli
• A clove of garlic chopped/ grated
• Handful of curry leaves (optional)
• 1 Tbsp of brown sugar (or more to taste)
• Rind and juice of lime (you may need two depending on size)
• Green beans and egg noodles to serve
Preparation
Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (I put mine on fan-grill to start and once the coconut gets a golden colour I switch it to normal fan-bake).
Pound 1/2 cup of coconut, ginger, turmeric, chilli, garlic, lime rind (but not juice), curry leaves and palm/brown sugar to a rough paste. Add fish sauce a tablespoon at a time, mix through, taste and adjust to your liking.
Sprinkle a layer of coconut in an oven dish large enough to accommodate the fish in a single layer.
Place the fish on top of the coconut.
Spread the topping over the fish and sprinkle the rest of the coconut threads on top.
Pour enough evaporated milk/ coconut milk around the fish to keep it moist, but not so much that the topping is covered.
Put the fish in the oven and bake it for 20-30 minutes until the fish flakes easily and is opaque.
Squeeze the lime juice over the fish when it comes out of the oven.
Serve it over egg noodles or rice with cooked green beans and more lime wedges if liked.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4