Braised Coral Trout in Light Soya Sauce

Another coral trout recipe. I think most of us are aware of our health nowadays. You are what you eat. So how about a light and good for us dish, easy and fast to prepare and cook.

The ingredients are:

1 kg coral trout cut in large pieces

2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil for frying

2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon light soya sauce

1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 capsicum chopped

2 leaf parsley

50 gm broccoli steamed

1 eggplant steamed

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic and onions until colored.

Lay the pieces of fish on a steamer tray. Pour sesame oil and light soya sauce over the fish, cover and steam over simmering water for 8 minutes. Garnish ginger, garlic, capsicum, broccoli, eggplant and parsley and serve.

Happy cooking!!

Coral Trout In Coconut Cream

Let's see what Dr Gerry Goeden has to say about fish.

Dr Gerry Goeden :"One of my favorite fish in the Indo-pacific is the Coral Trout. There are several species of these beautiful fish. Colors vary between the species and with depth; deeper water Coral Trout are brilliant red and all have bright blue spots.

Coral Trout are fish eaters and live close to the coral mostly along reef slopes. The best way to catch them is with a baited hook or with a fast swimming lure. Coral Trout move around considerably on their home reef, but no further than 500 meters from it. Movement between neighboring reefs is rare."  

Coral Trout in coconut cream 

Preparation time: 25 mins

1kg coral trout

80 g butter

½ teaspoon salt

Pak choy

A green algae popular in Asia called sea grapes (Caulerpa) ; salty and burst in your mouth when you bite it

1 lemon

125 ml coconut cream

1 big onion chopped in rings (optional)

2 tablespoon oyster sauce (can be used as a plate garnish)

First, melt butter in a pan, add salt and fish. Turn and baste for 7-10 mins or until the fish is just cooked through. Lift the fish to a plate and keep warm.

Fry the battered onion rings. You can either steam or boil  pak choy. But you only have to wash the Caulerpa, it shouldn't be cooked.

Stir lemon juice into the pan and cook for 5 mins . Add coconut cream into pan and bring to boil. 

Ladle the cream onto the fish and garnish with oyster sauce. 

I think Coral Trout is one of the highest quality reef fish with very white and firm flesh. The trouble is that it isn’t always available these days. Close seconds are the Coral Trout relatives. Dr. Gerry calls them Serranids but the rest of us know them as garoupa or groupers (sama sama!). Some garoupa are a little less firm and flakey so experience with your local species will be your best guide.

About the names; every country seems to have its own version. The western name "grouper" comes from the name for the fish, most widely believed to be from the Portuguese name, garoupa. The origin of this name in Portuguese is believed to be from an indigenous South American language. Garoupa is also widely used in the Indo-pacific and Asia.

This Vanuatu Coral Trout is a terrific catch but fish this size are often leathery in texture. Toss it back and catch something around 1 - 2 kg.

Fresh Fish Is Best Fish

I guess many of us have experienced the ‘excitement’ of going to a fish market. To me, I’d rather go to a supermarket to get a fish than …..  You see, it’s the wet filthy floor, the pushing, the haggling, the noise. But then if you really want fresh it’s off to the market for the ingredients for that special dinner.

Fish is only worth buying when it is absolutely fresh, and it is best if you eat it on the day you buy it. Fresh fish have shiny skin with a metallic shine and they are covered with transparent mucus that becomes yucky when the fish is old and stale. It needs to look like it just swam onto the table.

The eyes should be clear, bright and slightly bulging. The flesh should be firm, springy when you press it lightly with your finger. If it feels limp, and your finger leaves an indentation, the fish is past its best. If the eyes are sunken, it’s way past its best---keep clear!

                                 Check our EYES, DON"T buy us!

Pick it up and give it a good ‘sniff’! Sea fish should have a pleasant odor, a bit like seaweed; fresh water fish should smell like a stream or waterfall. OK, maybe not a waterfall! Just remember there should never been even a hint of that “fishy” smell.

The best test of freshness for whole fish is to open up the gills; they should be a clear red or rosy color, not a dull brown and certainly not grey. Look for a firm tail (that’s what we would all like to have) and lots of, shinny close-fitting scales. A fish which has been dead too long to be fresh, or which has not been kept the best way, will shed its scales everywhere.

If you can’t get to a market then head for the shops!

Ready- prepared white fish fillets should be trimmed of bits and pieces, with moist, firm, translucent flesh. If you must buy frozen fish, make sure that it is frozen solid, with no sign of thawing and the packaging is not damaged. Fish that is frozen in a covering of ice holds its flavor better in the freezer. Remember to never, ever re-freeze fish.

So bear in mind—eyes, skin, scales, gills, and smell!

We will look at shell fish another time. Now that we know how to find a fresh fish we can look at what to do with it. That’s up next.

There is a saying that guests and fish shouldn't be in your home after three days. It’s so true!

Take a seat! The incredible Asian Seafood Adventure is about to begin.

Hi Everybody and welcome to my fantastic Asian Seafood Adventure!

Stick with us and we will explore both the gastronomic and underwater worlds. We will take you from wet market, to coral reef,and then to the table.

Before we start this journey I want to say something about who I am and what I’m doing here. First, I’m a Malaysian who has lived most of my life in Sarawak (East Malaysia) and recently started travelling in West Malaysia, especially Langkawi and Penang. To some Penang is the food capital of the Universe; if it can be eaten it’s here.

My partner in crime on this journey is a gentleman I met who is doing some incredible marine conservation work through the Andaman Resort in beautiful Langkawi. He is the well known Dr. Gerry, marine ecologist, author/ journalist, and adviser to the National University of Malaysia. Dr. Gerry will tell us something about the wonderful seafood that will find its way to our table.

Please remember that we are only interested in ‘sustainable’ species. This is something I might say more about later. It is definitely not the ‘green’ thing to do and not on the menu if we take seafood that is at risk.

OK, got the idea? My next post will look at how to come by the wonderful seafood that will grace our table. Some we will haggle for at the wet market, some we will troll for from a boat, and the others we will chase through the water (sounds tiring).