Thai fish in banana leaves

Serves: 2

Time to make: 30 mins

Ingredients

2 pieces banana leaf (large enough to wrap the fish) or tin foil
2 fish fillets or steaks
cooking spray oil
Dressing
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugarlight brown cane sugarX
juice of 1 lime
1 small handful fresh mint, coarsely chopped
fresh coriandercilantroX 1 small handful, coarsely chopped

Instructions

Stay Awake

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2 Wash and dry the banana leaves, use scissors to trim off coarse edges and lightly spray leaves with cooking spray. Place the fish in the middle of the leaf and spoon half the dressing over the fish. Wrap the fish well in the leaf (don’t be concerned if the leaf splits here or there). Place the fish parcel on a baking tray and repeat with the second piece of fish.

3 Bake in a preheated oven: 15 minutes for a fish fillet, 20 minutes for fish steaks or thicker fillets.

4 To serve, slit the parcels open on the plate and eat immediately. We serve this with a salad of fresh greens and rice to soak up the juices.

HFG tip

Fresh banana leaves should be blanched in boiling water to soften them before use. I use frozen banana leaves which are available in Asian grocery stores; they’re cheap and easy to work with. Defrost the pack, rinse the leaves in cold water and dry with kitchen paper, rub lightly with butter or oil to prevent the food sticking to the leaves. Surplus leaves can be refrozen. If you do not have an Asian store nearby, you could use tin foil but the banana leaves infuse a lovely flavour.

Nutrition Info (per serve)

Calories 193 cal

Kilojoules 805 kJ

Protein 33.6 g

Total fat 2.9 g

Saturated fat 0.5 g

Carbohydrates 8 g

Sugar 7.9 g

Dietary fibre 0.1 g

Sodium 1075 mg

Calcium 45 mg

Iron 0.9 mg

Note: This nutrition analysis is a guide only. Nutrition composition will vary depending on the exact ingredients used. See our guides on your optimal daily nutrition intake, and supermarket shopping.