Baked Salmon in Lime-Coconut Cream Sauce (ปลาแซลมอนอบกะทิ)


Baked Salmon in Lime-Coconut Cream Sauce (ปลาแซลมอนอบกะทิ)
You see, I just posted something on the blog a couple of days ago, and I should have waited a few days to publish another post. Ideally, this post would have featured a recipe for something sweet — a dessert, perhaps — because I just posted a savory recipe. Also, since the last post was a seafood recipe, posting another seafood recipe right after could make it look like I’m seafood-bombing my readers. But since this blog is driven by very little forethought and a lot of giddiness, this is what you get.

I took this photo just seconds after I’d taken the fish out of the oven. Look closely and you may notice that the cream sauce was still bubbling. I had to tell you about this baked salmon. And I had to tell you now.

Vicky of Things I Made Today serves this with mustard spinach.

4.9 from 7 reviews
Baked Salmon in Lime-Coconut Cream Sauce
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Thai
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 salmon fillet, weighing about 1¼-1½ pounds
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves
  • 2 limes
  • 3-4 bird's eye chilies (more or less depending on your heat tolerance)
Instructions
  1. Pour ½ cup of coconut milk into the middle of a baking dish (see notes). Place the salmon fillet, skin side down, right on top of the coconut milk pool.
  2. Rub 2 tablespoons of the fish sauce on top of the fish; let it marinate briefly in the refrigerator while you prepare other ingredients.
  3. Mix the remaining fish sauce and the remaining coconut milk together; set aside.
  4. Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
  5. Cut one lime crosswise into very thin slices. Juice the other lime; set the juice aside for later.
  6. Cut the kaffir lime leaves into very thin strips; set aside.
  7. Cut the chilies thinly crosswise; set aside.
  8. When the oven is ready, take the fish out of the refrigerator and pour the coconut milk-fish sauce mixture all over it.
  9. Arrange the lime slices on top of the fish and sprinkle the kaffir lime leaves and chilies all over it.
  10. Bake the fish, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or just until it's cooked through.
  11. Remove the fish from the oven. Drizzle a tablespoon of the reserved lime juice over the fish. Adjust the amount of lime juice to taste. Taste the sauce to see if more fish sauce is needed. If so, add more.
  12. Let the fish cool down slightly before serving.
  13. If you have some cilantro on hand, chop some up and sprinkle it on top of the fish. If not, don't sweat it.
  14. Serve the fish with rice.
Notes
Use a baking dish that is just big enough for the fish to sit comfortably in it with some room on the sides. A pan that is too large and wide will cause the coconut sauce to spread out too much. This means much of it will evaporate in the oven and may even burn around the edges. We want the fish to be enveloped in (or to be embraced by) the sauce and absorb as much of it as possible. We don't want the fish to lie there on a thin layer of liquid that spreads all over the place.

 

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