Hot Roast Snapper with Coconut, Chilli and Lime Salsa
Snapper’s probably the most widely used of all fish in Caribbean cooking. Here we cook ours in an oven, but if you’re planning a beach party, you can cook yours on a barbecue with a lid or a rack set on bricks on a beach fire. Choose a smaller fish than we have here (around 1-2kg/2lb 4oz-4lb 8oz), stuff it, wrap it in foil and cook it over the coals for 35 minutes-1 hour depending on size, turning every 15 minutes or so to ensure it cooks evenly.
3kg (6lb 8oz) snapper, either pink or grey-skinned, gutted and scaled 1 lime
FOR THE STUFFING
1 small bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped 1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped leaves from 8 sprigs of thyme zest of 1 lime juice of 2 limes 4cm (1 1⁄2in) piece of root ginger, very finely chopped 1 hot red chilli (ideally Scotch bonnet), deseeded and finely chopped 5–6 tbsp olive oil salt and pepper
FOR THE SALSA
250g (9oz) fresh coconut flesh 1⁄4 tsp caster sugar juice of 8 limes zest of 2 limes 2 red chillies, deseeded and cut into fine slivers small bunch of fresh coriander, leaves
coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6. Using a very sharp knife, make 3 deep slashes on each side of the fish. Squeeze the juice of a lime all over. Mix all the stuffing ingredients together and stuff it into the slits as well as the cavity.
Set the fish in a roasting tin lined with foil and roast in the preheated oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes, by which time the flesh closest to the bone at the thickest parts should be perfectly white, not at all ‘glassy’ looking.
To make the salsa use a potato peeler, to make wafer-thin shavings of coconut. Mix the sugar with the lime juice, stirring until it dissolves, and toss the coconut with this and all the other ingredients. Serve with the snapper
