Cured fish on betel leaf with lemongrass recipe

Cured fish on betel leaf with lemongrass recipe

A kind of Thai ceviche, this cured fish on betel leaf with lemongrass and mint recipe uses sea bass – but any type of meaty firm white-fleshed fish will work well. These little nibbles are perfect served as fancy (but so fast and simple!) canapés if you’re looking to impress… and they’re super healthy too. So ideal!

Ingredients (serves 4)

8-10 betel leaves, washed and stalks trimmed off (you can find these in most Thai or Vietnamese grocery shops, but if you cant find them at all you could just serve on a spoon instead)

300g skinless sea bass fillet (ideally wild), pin-boned

3tbsp lime juice

1tsp sea salt

½tsp white sugar

3 red bird’s eye chillies, thinly sliced

4 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced

4 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves, thinly shredded

20 small picked mint leaves

4 Thai shallots, peeled and finely sliced (you can swap them for regular shallots if unavailable)

Method

Cut the seabass into thin slices. Now make the cure by mixing the lime juice, salt and sugar in a bowl (you can add some lemongrass and lime leaf trimmings here to give extra flavour).

Pour the lime cure over the seabass and mix well for 1 minute.  Now remove the fish from the liquid cu, Singhare and place in a mixing bowl.  Add the rest of the fresh ingredients except the betel leaves and mix well.

To serve, place a small portion of the fish mix in the middle of each betel leaf.   Present the leaves on a platter.

This recipe has been created with Co-founder and Head Chef, Andy Oliver of award-winning restaurant Som Sa in partnership with Singha Beer.

For more…

Try your hand at this Bajan prawn tacos recipe or these egg and spinach wraps.