Oven Grilled Coconut Milk & Lime Masala Fish Head 椰浆酸酐马萨拉烤鱼头

My husband says this Oven Grilled Coconut Milk & Lime Masala Fish Head 椰浆酸酐马萨拉烤鱼头 is very delicious and I do agree with him. The flesh's soft and tender. And the multi-layering flavours hit you one after another. The coconut Milk intensifies and elevates the flavours with added fragrance. Simply divine!  

Ingredients (enough for 2 to 4 pax with rice and other dishes) :

• 1 fish head of about 1 kg (I used a red grouper fish head)
• 1 to 2 pcs banana leaves 
• 2 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp grounded black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 2 tbsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 100 ml Coconut Milk
•  lime juice (from 1 large Thai lime)
• 8 pcs kaffir lime leaves (remove midrib and stalk and tear leaves into smaller pieces)
• 30 pcs curry leaves
• 1 large onion (peeled and julienned to be served when dish out)
• 1 red cut chili (thinly sliced to be served when dish out)
• 2 to 3 wedges Thai lime (to be served when dish out)
• 1 stalk coriander (chopped and to be served when dish out)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil or other cooking oil

(tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon) 

Method :

1. Clean fish head and rub a little salt on the surface and inside of the fish head.
2. Roast mustard seeds in a pan or in the oven. They're ready when the seeds start to pop from the roast pan. 
3. Roast curry leaves and shredded lime leaves in the same manner.
4. Combine curry leaves, lime leaves, coconut milk, salt, mustard seeds, grounded black pepper, garam masala powder, lime juice and coconut/cooking oil in a blender and grind into a smooth paste.
5. Treat banana leaf for use. Clean and hold the banana leaf over gas flame for a short while. After this process, the banana leaf would not break when fold.
6. Spread treated banana leaf over a large plate and transfer fish head onto it.
7. Spread blended mixture onto the inside and surface of the fish head.
8. Fold and wrap fish head and sauces in banana leaf. Secure with another piece of banana leaf over it if necessary.
9. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes.  
10. Pre-heat oven to 180C, Grill - Fan Assist mode.
11. Put wrapped fish head on a baking tray and send to bake at 180C between 20 to 40 minutes, depending on size of fish head and thickness of meat. Mine took about 30 minutes. 
12. Remove fish head from oven when time's up. To check if fish is cooked, open up the banana leaf and insert a bamboo skewer into the fish meat, if the bamboo skewer comes out clean, the fish head is cooked and ready to be served.
13. Dish out and top with lime wedges, raw onions, cut chili and chopped coriander before serve.
14. Serve whilst hot with rice and other dishes. 

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