Recipe – baked fish with coriander, ginger and garlic.

Fresh, seed and crushed coriander.

I love coriander. It always adds punch to a dish.

It’s used in a lot of South Asian cooking, stir frys, Thai curries and steamed fish. It also pops up in Mexican cooking and is used in salsa and guacamole. In Indian cooking it’s tossed, chopped, on top of dhal and curries.

It’s not a wimpy herb, it’s got a zingy taste. It’s not just for decoration although the leaves are pretty. By the way it’s called cilantro in the USA, which comes from the Spanish.

So here’s a  recipe using coriander.

I’m going through a fish phase at the moment. Maybe it’s the weather or maybe it’s because I’ve fallen for a local South African fish called Kabeljou, also know as Cob.

This fish has a firm white flesh, and if you don’t overcook it it is juicy. Not unlike sea bass.

Kablejou or cob. Reminds me of Seabass.

So here’s my recipe using my two favourite ingredients right now.

Baked Kabeljou with coriander, ginger and garlic.

Serves 4

1 whole Kabeljou, cleaned, gutted, sliced in two with skin left on

2 tablespoons of crushed ginger

Baked fish.

4 tablespoons of sesame oil

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 tablespoon crushed garlic

Juice of 2 lemons

1 tablespoon of honey

A good big handful of coriander leaves only

Place fish on tin foil skin down

Turn oven on to 200c

Mix  ginger, sesame oil, soy, lemon juice, honey, garlic and half of coriander chopped.

Divide mixture over two halves of fish covering the flesh.

Put in oven for 12 minutes. Make sure the fish does not overcook.

Take out serve with noodles or brown rice and scatter with the remaining coriander leaves. 

By the way, I buy my fresh fish from Southern Cross Fish in Tokai. Paul Joubert sells the freshest fish in Cape Town (apart from the fishermen in Kalk Bay). He’ll tell you straight up what is fresh, what was blast frozen, and what is a good deal.