The Marshall Islands – Coconut Fish, Roast sweet potato salad with passionfruit mayonnaise, Papaya Salad, steamed rice

The republic of Marshall Islands is located in the North Pacific Ocean  & includes twenty nine atolls, with 24 being inhabited.  The people of the Marshall Islands have experienced increasing food security issues due to limited land mass & increasing population/urbanisation.  In addition, the Marshallese people face a larger threat from global warming,  as their country is on the list of island nations predicted to be inundated in the future by rising sea levels.

Our  menu included

Coconut Fish, 
Roast sweet potato salad with passionfruit mayonnaise

Papaya Salad 
& 
steamed rice

COCONUT FISH

Ingredients:

·      6 pieces white fish fillets, cleaned, filleted & de-boned (we used Monk Fish)

·      2 cups coconut cream

·      ½ an onion, finely chopped

·      1 teaspoon salt

·      2 fresh  chilli, thinly sliced in rounds

·      1 tablespoon cornstarch

·      1 tablespoon lemon juice

·      2 tomatoes, sliced

·      6 tbs peanut oil

·      6 tbs flour

·      1 tsp salt

·      1/4tsp ground white pepper

Method:

1.     mix cornstarch to a paste with a little of the cold coconut cream

2.     combine coconut cream, onion, 1 tsp salt, chilli, lemon juice, and the corn starch in a saucepan

3.     Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, stirring all the time

4.     Do not allow sauce to boil hard as it will become lumpy

5.     Simmer for 3 minutes, then remove from the heat

6.     Heat oven to 160 C (300F)

7.     Cut fish into even sized pieces (about 2 cm thick, 3cm wide & 6 cm long)

8.     Mix flour, extra salt & white pepper in a container that has a lid that seals well & is big enough for all the fish to fit in (a Tupperware marinating dish is perfect, if you don’t have one you could use a plastic bag)

9.     Place the fish in the container of flour & shake well until the fish is evenly coated with the flour mix

10.  Heat 2 tbs of the peanut oil in a frypan

11.  Brown  fish rapidly &  lightly on both sides in the hot oil – you will probably have to do it in a few batches- add a bit more oil to the pan & reheat between batches (you will have to add the extra oil each time as the flour will soak up the oil)

12.  Place the fish in an ovenproof dish as it is browned

13.  Evenly cover the fish with the  tomato slices 

14.  Evenly pour the coconut sauce over the top

15.  Bake uncovered in the oven for 30 minutes or until the top begins to brown

Recipe adapted from recipes & images found at:

http://www.food.com/recipe/pacific-island-fish-in-coconut-sauce-23604?oc=linkback

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/19f2a1/

ROAST SWEET POTATO SALAD with PASSIONFRUIT MAYONNAISE

Ingredients:

·      1/3 head iceberg lettuce

·      2 large Sweet potato, peeled & cut into 1cm cubes

·      200 gm raw whole macadamia nuts

·      2 avocado, cut in large dice

·      small amount peanut oil

·      salt

Ingredients for dressing:

·      1 x passion fruit

·      3 tbs mayonnaise

·      Juice of ¼ of a lemon

·      1 tsp coconut Sugar (coconut sugar is made from the nectar of the coconut palm blossom. If you cant buy it substitute ½ brown sugar & ½ white sugar)

·      ¼ tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1.     wash lettuce & chill in fridge

2.     to make dressing first scoop out the pulp from the passion fruit then mix it with mayonnaise, lemon juice, coconut sugar & vanilla essence

      Tip: I put it all in a jar with a tight fitting lid so I could give it a really good shake

3.     lightly grease a baking tray with the peanut oil & sprinkle with salt

4.     spread the cubed sweet potato over the tray & place into a moderate over (about 170 C) for 10 minutes

5.     turn the sweet potato over then roast for a further 10 mins

6.     add macadamia nuts to the tray of sweet potato then roast for a further 10 mins – keep an eye on the tray & turn over the nuts & potato again if needed

7.     remove tray from the oven when nuts are evenly golden

8.     let the tray just sit on the bench to cool

9.     lay lettuce leaves around the inside of a glass bowl & tear a few more up to make a bed in the bottom of the bowl

10.  add  half the diced avocado

11.  then add the sweet potato & macadamias

12.  top with the remaining avocado

13.  finish by drizzling the dressing all over the salad

This is a Q-Zine original recipe. 

I created this salad & dressing from key ingredients that are used in the Marshall Islands

PAPAYA SALAD

Ingredients:

·      ½  papaya/pawpaw

·      ¼ pineapple

·      several sprigs Thai basil (or mint if you prefer) 

Method:

1.     cut papaya & pineapple into 1.5 cm cubes

2.     chop basil/mint & fold through the fruit

This is a Q-Zine original recipe created from key ingredients used in the Marshall Islands