Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Jungle Fish (Cooked in Banana Leaves)


Although any freshwater fish can stand in for jungle fish, I used tilapia.

3 tilapia fillets, cut into tidy triangle shapes
Banana leaves (If you don't have any, cut them fresh off you nearest neighborhood banana tree)

2 shallots
2 T ground tumeric
4 green onions, 2 finely chopped, and 2 in 1 inch sections
3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
2 seeded Thai chillies, finely chopped
1-2 T fish sauce
1ish T sugar
Salt and pepper

Grate the shallots into a bowl, and mix in the remaining ingredients except the green onion sections. Season with salt, pepper, sugar, and fish sauce to taste. Stir fish into marinade, and refregerate until needed. I had my fish marinate for about 2 hours, which worked nicely.

Start grill or oven. Lay out one notebook sized banana leaf, and brush with sesame oil. Mound half the fish in the center of the leaf, and cover with half the green onion sections. Wrap banana leaf up like a package, and wrap in a similar process (brushing with oil) until everything is nicely covered. Secure with toothpicks. Repeat on remaining fish, and place on grill. Cook until done, about 10 - 15 minutes, turning occasionally if your package will not fall apart. Serve over jasmine rice.