In this recipe, I’ll show you how simple it is to prepare a whole fish. This delicious and healthy oven-roasted Thai Dorada is packed with homemade green curry paste. Really easy to prepare, makes this delicate white fish a great Sunday lunch or light dinner.
I love fish and I take the opportunity to prepare it every time I can. Besides trout, salmon, tuna and mackerel, I like Dorada, too. Dorada is also known as gilthead sea bream, Orata or Dorade Royale. I know it as Orada. Wink. Yeap, each country has its own name for it.
If you like to eat fish and you run out of ideas, here are a couple of delicious and simple fish recipes: fresh avocado salmon ceviche, superb spicy garlic-coconut shrimps, a hearty coconut shrimp curry or spinach stuffed salmon.
Do you always hesitate to prepare a whole fish? Are you scared of how to prepare it or you don’t know how long to cook it? Wink. Stop worrying and keep reading. When buying whole fish instead of fillets, you can determine the freshness. For instance, clear and plump eyes, bright or bright red gills and firm flesh are the things to search for. And of course, it should smell fresh and clean.
Furthermore, preparing a whole fish has a bonus. There is a good reason why fish has been for centuries cooked on the bone. In fact, the flesh is between the fatty skin and a gelatin-rich backbone which really influences the flavour of the fish. As a result, the flesh will be extra flavorful and succulent.
Roasting a fish in the oven has its advantages, too. It’s easy, less messy and far less fattening than using a frying panful of splattering, smoking and smelly grease. Wink. More, the fish will lose way less omega-3 fatty acids and retain more vitamin D than by frying. So cool!
Last but not least, let’s talk about homemade curry paste. It’s so fresh, so citrusy and so spicy! Packed with fresh coriander or parsley, ginger, garlic (I simply can’t live without it), lemongrass and chili. What a combo! I love it! In fact, I could eat it with potatoes, meat and fish. Here you can check a bit different green curry paste, which I paired with chicken livers. Yummy.
Ingredients for oven-roasted Thai Dorada:
- 1 dorada / gilt head bream
- half bunt parsley or coriander
- juice of half a lemon or lime
- 2 garlic cloves
- a stalk of lemongrass
- 2 cm piece of ginger (roughly chopped)
- 1-2 tsp of chili flakes or fresh chilis
- 2 tsp of soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp of olive oil
- peanuts
- a handful of lamb lettuce
To begin, prepare the marinade. In a food processor, combine fresh parsley, garlic, chopped lemongrass, chopped ginger, juice of half a lemon, chili flakes or fresh chilis, a splash of soy sauce and olive oil. Blitz for 30 seconds or until desired consistency.
Next, preheat the oven to 200º C (upper and lower heat) and prepare the fish. Rinse the Dorada (outside and inside) under cold running water and eventually remove some scales, if any left. Afterwards, tap it dry with some paper towels, score it on the sides and lay it onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Furthermore, spoon 2/4 of the marinade into the fish’s cavity (belly), spread 1/4 on the fish and keep the rest for your next recipe. Put to roast on the bottom rack for 7-10 minutes.
Then, transfer the tray on the middle rack and roast for another 7-10 minutes or until crispy and it flakes easily with a fork. Two minutes before the end, add some peanuts and turn on the grill function.
In the meantime, wash and drain the lamb lettuce. Put it into a salad bowl, add some vinegar and olive oil and gently toss.
Finally, arrange some of the salad on the plate and top with oven-roasted Thai Dorada. Sprinkle some more chili flakes on top and finish with a squeeze of lime. It makes a perfect Sunday lunch or dinner for the weekend.
Enjoy!
