Steam bag fish and corn salsa

Fish is not something I've always been confident in cooking at home. As kids we didn't grow up eating a lot of fish. Instead our diet was mostly made up of vegetables alongside meat or chicken prepared in a multitude of ways.

As I began eating out a lot more in later years, I would regularly order fish when out at a restaurant. However I was not game to cook it often at home. In fact in the early days my attempts at cooking fish generally produced over cooked or dry fish so for a long time I avoided cooking it at home. Which in itself created a problem as I love to eat it.


So on I went thinking I would just live with never cook fish at home. That is until a friend shared this cooking method of effectively creating a steam bag. This cooking method means that the fish remains really moist and flaky as the moisture can't escape from the bag. The creation of a steam bag also allows you to add other liquids like stock, wine Asian sauces or pretty much any flavouring you heart desires.

In this instance I added soy sauce together with some shallots, garlic, chilli and sesame oil for a really fragrant piece of fish. I served this with a really simple corn salsa with a lime juice dressing.

I'm happy to report that these days I cook fish regularly at home, and with a bit of practice it proved not to be as scary as I once thought!




Steam bag fish with corn salsa
Serves 2


Ingredients:
2 x 140g fish fillets (I used ling this time but vary it with whatever fresh fish I can get at the time)
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
2 small garlic cloves, finely diced
2 Tbs coriander leaves
1 tsp sesame oil
S&P

For the salsa:
1 large corn cob, kernels removed
½ capsicum, finely diced
½ small cucumber, finely diced
1 Tbs coriander, finely chopped
Juice from ½ lime
1 Tbs olive oil
S&P

1. Preheat oven to 180C fan forced.
2. Take 2 lengths of aluminium foil approximately 20cm long and lay it on a bench. Take a slightly smaller length of baking paper and lay it on top of each piece of foil.
3. Place a piece of fish on each section of the baking paper. Create a bag with an opening at the top by rolling the sides of the foil.
4. On each piece of fish in the bag place 1Tbs soy, ½ tsp sesame oil, half the spring onions, garlic, coriander and S&P.
5. Seal the top of each bad by rolling the foil completely closed ensuring each bag is sealed.
6. Place each steam bag on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
7. Place all the salsa ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well.
8. Serve the fish either still in the steam bag or placed onto a warm plate with a side of corn salsa.