This is an absolutely delicious herb packed marinade for white fish. I use cod here, but halibut or another mildly flavored white fish would also work equally well. This recipe comes together super easy in a blender or food processor and is perfect served over basmati or jasmine rice.
I took flavor inspiration from a few different recipes from NYT Cooking for whole fish. However, I decided to create a recipe that is a bit less intimidating and more weekday friendly by tossing all the ingredients in a blender and using it as a marinade for fillets of white fish. This recipe is packed with herbs and aromatics which makes for an incredibly fragrant and brightly colored marinade.
Here is how to make it:
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup. Then, I like to start by blending the roughest ingredients first to allow for a very smooth marinade. I prefer to use a high powered blender, such as a Vitamix, to ensure the lemongrass is completely incorporated as sometimes lemongrass can be tough and stringy. Add your lemongrass, ginger, scallions, Thai chili, and garlic into your blender or food processor and blend or pulse until finely chopped. In my experience, Thai chilis are often sold in absolutely massive containers. Given that they are pretty spicy peppers I only find myself using one or two per recipe. Thus, if you do not have thai chilis or do not know what to do with a million spicy chiles, feel free to substitute with a dash of sriracha to taste.
Scrape down the sides of the blender and add the coconut milk, mint, cilantro, fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Blend until smooth or until desired consistency. Scrape down the sides of the blender as needed and keep blending until everything is incorporated. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more fish sauce or soy sauce if needed.
Remove fish from the fridge and add to a ziplock bag or airtight container. Pour over the marinade and move around the container until the fish is fully submerged. Allow to marinate for 15-30 min and no longer than 1 hour. It is often thought that the longer something marinates, the better it will taste. However, fish is delicate and if left to marinate for too long it will begin to cook from the acid in the marinade.
After the fish is done marinating, remove it from the fridge and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Bake fish for 20-25 min or until translucent and flaky. Serve over rice with lime wedges and cilantro leaves to garnish.
Jump to RecipeThai Coconut Lemongrass Cod
Ingredients
- 2 stalks lemongrass
- 1 2 inch piece fresh ginger
- 2 scallions
- 1 thai chili
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup mint leaves
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 1 lime juice
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 lb cod, halibut, or other white fish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Pulse together lemongrass, ginger, scallions, chili, and garlic in a food processor or high powered blender.
- Add coconut milk, herbs, lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add fish to an airtight container or ziplock bag and cover with marinade. Turn bag or container a few times to cover fish. Place in fridge and allow to marinate for 15-30 minutes and no more than 1 hour.
- Remove fish from marinade and transfer to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 20-25 or until translucent. Serve over rice and garnish with lime wedges and additional cilantro leaves.