Baked Whole Snapper with Blackbean & Garlic - 3 Ways!

This was our first dinner at our Byron Bay beach house - the whole snapper was so big, we ended up having it three ways.

Dinner: Baked Snapper with Blackbean & Garlic
This recipe is inspired by the original recipe featured in SBS's Food Safari (Series 1 - Chinese)

Ingredients:
1 whole snapper, cleaned (fillets are fine too) - we had a 3 kilo whopper!
1-2 lemons, sliced
1 cup or so of salted black beans (available it in Asian/Chinese stores), rinsed & drained
1 head of garlic, finely minced

Procedure:

1. First, make the black bean sauce. Simply saute the minced garlic in a little oil until aromatic, then add the black beans and toss around for3 to 4 minutes or until thoroughly mixed with the garlic. Leave to cool slightly.


2. Now for the fish. Pre-heat the oven to around 180 degrees C. Take your baking pan and line generously with foil - have plenty of overhang to enclose the fish. Spray lightly with oil then place the snapper on the baking tray. Make three or four slashes diagonally across the fish.


3. Take your sauteed black bean and garlic mixture and pat all over the fish. Press down a bit firmly to make the mixture stick to the fish. Then take your lemon slices and arrange over the black beans. Stuff the remaining lemon slices into the fish cavity. Sprinkle the fish with more oil (olive oil or sesame) then grind over some black pepper. Fully enclose the fish with foil and bake in oven for 30-45 minutes depending on the heat of your oven and whether it is fan forced or not (takes longer in a conventional oven).


4. To test the fish for doneness, take a small knife and gently prise the skin to see if the flesh is white and opaque, and flakes easily. To serve, either take the fish to the table and help yourself, or flake the fish and arrange on plates - we had a side dish of steamed long grain coral/red rice and stir-fried Asian greens with XO sauce and drizzled sweet soy sauce (kecap manis).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lunch: Snapper Pie with Mashed Sweet Potato with Ginger & Chili

Ingredients:

leftover baked snapper, flaked and all bones taken out
2 tbsps (or more) pouring cream - enough to nicely coat the fish
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
small handful of coriander, mint and chives, finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon
2 small or 1 medium-sized sweet potato/kumara, peeled and cubed
small knob of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced finely
1/4 tsp dried chili flakes, or de-seed & finely slice 1 fresh bird's eye chili
sesame oil

Procedure:

1. First, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. For the fish, heat a small saucepan on the stovetop, pour in 1 tbsp of oil and saute the fish until warmed through. Add the cream, stir through, then add the chopped herbs. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper, and place in a small Pyrex dish or similar container suitable for the oven.


2. For the sweet potato mash, boil the cubed potato in plenty of salted water until soft - around 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and mash to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.


3. In another small saucepan, saute the ginger in a little sesame oil for 1 minute, then add chili flakes/fresh chili. Mix this into the sweet potato mash.


4. Pile the mashed potato on top of the fish in the oven dish. Sprinkle some more sesame oil and bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until completely warmed through and the mash browns a little. Serve with green salad.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breakfast: Snapper Omelette

Ingredients:
leftover snapper pie
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk, added to the eggs
chopped parsley
olive oil

Procedure:

1. Heat a frypan on medium heat. Add oil and add beaten eggs. Swirl around and using a spatula, lift the egg as it sets and move the pan to allow more egg to hit the pan and cook.


2. Once the egg is almost set, add the leftover snapper pie. Fold egg over to form omelette.


3. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with some Tabasco sauce for extra kick.