Baked red snapper lemon myrtle curry

Take whole snapper to the next level with an Indigenous Australian twist with Nornie Bero's homemade lemon myrtle yellow curry paste for a flavour combination you won't find in any supermarket curry paste jar. The secret ingredient? Nornie's homemade native five spice blend made with lemon myrtle, aniseed myrtle, cinnamon myrtle, pepperberry and saltbush!

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Series. Cooking. Rated PG.

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Ingredients

• 1 red snapper (approx. 750 g), cleaned
• 1 banana leaf
• 1 cup (250 ml) coconut milk
• 2 pepperberry leaves
• 3 lemon myrtle leaves
• Sea salt flakes
• Steamed rice, to serve

For the lemon myrtle yellow curry paste (makes extra)

• 2 eschallots, roughly chopped
• 6 tbsp macadamia oil
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2.5 cm x 3 cm piece ginger, roughly sliced
• 7 whole dried red chillies, soaked, roughly chopped
• 2 cm x 3 cm piece turmeric
• 2 tsp Keens curry powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tbsp lemongrass paste
• ¼ small bunch coriander (leaves and stems)
• 1 tbsp native five spice (see Note)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C (fan-forced).
2. Combine the ingredients for the lemon myrtle yellow curry paste in a blender or food processor and blitz to combine, adding a little water if required to help blend the ingredients.
3. Use a sharp knife to score the snapper with 3-4 cuts on each side of the fish. Carefully heat the banana leaves over an open flame on the stove to soften. Heat 3 tbsp of the prepared curry paste in a small saucepan, then add the coconut milk, pepperberry leaves and lemon myrtle leaves to the pan. Add a generous pinch of salt, then bring the mixture to the boil. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat.
4. Place the warmed banana leaf into a large baking tray. Pour half the prepared curry sauce onto the banana leaf, then top with the snapper. Pour over the remaining curry sauce, then wrap the whole snapper to secure (using twine if required). Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. Remove from the oven and serve with steamed rice.

Note

To make homemade native five spice, combine equal quantities of lemon myrtle, aniseed myrtle, cinnamon myrtle, ground pepperberry and ground saltbush in a spice grinder and blitz to combine. Store in an airtight jar and use as required.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.