Balinese-style baked fish

This recipe takes inspiration from the Balinese beaches of Jimbaran, where roasted fish is served to beachgoers. The fish is marinated in Balinese or Indonesian flavours with garlic, turmeric and ginger, plus a drizzle of kecap manis.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 800 g whole fish, such as sea bream or similar firm-fleshed white fish, cleaned
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) neutral oil, plus extra for greasing
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 50 g unpeeled ginger, finely grated
• ½ tbsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 lemon, ½ thinly sliced, the rest cut into wedges, to serve
• 1 tbsp kecap manis
• Steamed rice, blanched broccolini, to serve

Instructions

1. Take the fish out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking, so it comes up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 220˚C (200˚C fan-forced), then line a baking tray with foil and brush lightly with oil.
2. For the paste, combine the oil, garlic, ginger, turmeric and salt in a small bowl, and microwave in three 10-second bursts, until fragrant.
3. Score the fish four or five times diagonally on both sides, cutting down roughly ½ cm to 1 cm deep. Coat the cavity of the fish with about a quarter of the paste, then use the rest to coat both sides of the skin, making sure the paste fills the scores.
4. Arrange the lemon slices along the middle of the foil on the tray, lay the fish on top, and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 15 minutes.
5. Lift out the tray, drizzle the kecap manis all over the fish, then return to the oven for another 5 minutes, to finish cooking. To check it’s done, insert a thin-bladed knife or metal skewer into the flesh for 10 seconds, then remove and press to your bottom lip: if the blade or skewer is warm, the fish is cooked; if it’s cold, return the fish to the oven and test again every few minutes.
6. Once the fish is ready, transfer it to a serving plate and serve with the lemon wedges, rice and greens.

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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.

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