Cambodian Tilapia en Papillote

Since I finished lectures at lunch time today I decided to go into town amongst other things to get a hair cut. I have been long overdue one to the point that the hair dresser commented on the tail of hair that was developing at the top of my neck (not good!) Whilst sat in the chair making probably the most awkward small talk with my hairdresser (poor poor woman...) I was pondering what to make for dinner... something Asian and something with fish.  

On my way home I stopped by the local fish mongers since it is the best place in the world to get cheap, fresh, top quality fish (seriously you will save so much more money than buying from the supermarket chilled section). In an attempt to make this blog a little bit more ethical I decided to go for something which is sustainable - Tilapia! As my girlfriend always says, "don't buy cod because it feed on the crap from the bottom of the ocean." Seriously, Tilapia is a great tasting piece of fish on its own and will go great with my Cambodian en Papillote.

This is a bit of food fusion as en Papillote is a french technique of cooking that translates to "in parchment." However, this technique is used all around the world and one of the places where I saw it most was on the beaches of Sihanoukville in Cambodia. Although the parchment was replaced for tin foil the method of cooking is exactly the same - steam. The Cambodians would wrap veg and chunks of fish such as shark (don't worry not the endangered ones!) in the foil and cook it on the barbecues. 

For those who haven't tried Cambodian food before, it is similar to Thai given that it borders Thailand. I've tried to recreate a dish that I had on one of the beaches on my last night in Cambodia before crossing the Mekong Delta to Vietnam. For anyone reading this who is Cambodian I apologise in advance if it is not the same...

Ingredients

1 fillet of Talipia (ask the fish monger to do this)

1 tsp Thai green curry paste

5 tbsp of Coconut Milk

1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce

1 tsp Fish Sauce (I use Nam Pa)

1 tbsp Lime Juice

Baby Sweetcorn (halved)

Mange Tout

Bambo Shoots (tinned)

Carrots (thinly sliced)

1. Mix together the curry paste, coconut milk, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice.
2. Layout two piece of aluminium foil on top of each other. Place the fish in the centre and place the veg on top
3. Scrunch up the foil tightly folding one side over the other to form a seal along the top of the foil leaving a gap to pour in the sauce.
4. Pour in the sauce and seal tightly. It is important you seal tightly because if not the steam will escape and your fish will be baked. It will taste the same, but won't be as delicate and moist.
5. Place in a pre-heated oven at 180'C for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes open up the foil and allow the fish to bake for 5-10 minutes (I know this isn't strictly speaking an en papillote but it just ensures that the fish is cooked an the sauce is piping hot!)
6. Serve in the foil with coconut rice (rice with coconut milk stirred through). Nothing beats the spectacle of opening up the foil! Drizzle a little bit of coconut milk on top to make it look fancy.

Bon Appetite!