This fragrant and spicy dish takes just 15 minutes to prepare
Diana Henry
The Telegraph's award-winning cookery writer
Diana Henry is the Telegraph’s much-loved cookery writer. She shares recipes each week, for everything from speedy family dinners to special menus that friends will remember for months. She is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, and her journalism and recipe books, including Simple and How to Eat a Peach, are multi-award-winning. A mother of two sons, Diana can satisfy even the fussiest of eaters.
Published
You get a great dish here for very little effort. Be sure to use good fish stock – if you buy fresh from the supermarket, boil it until reduced to 250ml – and good seasoning.
Overview
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
40 mins
Serves
6
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely sliced
- 1 red pepper, finely sliced
- 1 green pepper, finely sliced
- 4-6 plum tomatoes (about 400g), deseeded and roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 Scotch bonnet, deseeded and chopped
- 2 x 160g tins coconut cream
- 250ml fish stock
- zest and juice of 1 lime
For the fish
- 6 skinless seabass fillets
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 regular red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- small bunch of coriander, leaves roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp roast peanuts, very roughly chopped
- wedges of lime, to serve
- boiled rice, to serve
Method
Step
To make the sauce, heat 1½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil in a broad, shallow pan and sauté 1 finely sliced onion, 1 finely sliced red pepper and 1 finely sliced green pepper until they are soft and the onion is pale gold (about 12 minutes).
Step
Add 4-6 deseeded and chopped plum tomatoes, 4 sliced garlic cloves and 1 deseeded and chopped Scotch bonnet chilli and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft.
Step
Pour in one 160g tin of coconut cream. Open the other 160g tin and add the solid cream at the top to the pan (you can use the remaining clear liquid in a soup).
Step
Add 250ml fish stock. Season and add the zest and juice of 1 lime. Bring to just under the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 12 minutes, or until it is thicker than a soup.
Step
Meanwhile, put 6 skinless seabass fillets in a dish with the juice of 1 lime, 1 deseeded and finely chopped red chilli, 3 crushed garlic cloves and a little salt. Gently mix. Cover and place in the fridge for no more than 20 minutes.
Step
When ready to serve, heat 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil in a frying pan and quickly cook the fish fillets on each side over a high heat, just until the flesh is golden. Season to taste.
Step
Transfer to the coconut mixture and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, gently spooning over the liquid, until the fish is cooked through. Scatter with roughly chopped coriander and 1 tbsp roughly chopped roast peanuts and serve with lime wedges and rice.