Peixe grelhado — Mozambican grilled fish

Name: Peixe grelhado — Mozambican grilled fish
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 14 min
Total time: 49 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mozambique
Ingredients: 🐟 1 cleaned and scaled whole fish, about 1.2 kg (tilapia, sea bream or another available species), or 4 thick steaks of 200 g each; 🍋 2 washed limes: finely grated zest of 1 and juice of both; 🧄 4 peeled garlic cloves, finely crushed; 🫚 2 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated; 🌶️ 1 small fresh piri-piri chilli, finely chopped, optional and adjusted to guests; 🫗 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus a little to oil the grill; 🧂 3 g fine salt, divided between marinade and finishing; 🌿 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, optional; 🍚 Cooked rice, xima or cassava to serve; amounts depend on appetite and are excluded from the nutrition estimate; 🥗 Washed tomato, cucumber and lettuce for an optional side

🐟 Whole fish marinated with lime, garlic and piri-piri, grilled until the skin is golden and served with a side of choice.

Ingredients

🐟 1 cleaned and scaled whole fish, about 1.2 kg (tilapia, sea bream or another available species), or 4 thick steaks of 200 g each
🍋 2 washed limes: finely grated zest of 1 and juice of both
🧄 4 peeled garlic cloves, finely crushed
🫚 2 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
🌶️ 1 small fresh piri-piri chilli, finely chopped, optional and adjusted to guests
🫗 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus a little to oil the grill
🧂 3 g fine salt, divided between marinade and finishing
🌿 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, optional
🍚 Cooked rice, xima or cassava to serve; amounts depend on appetite and are excluded from the nutrition estimate
🥗 Washed tomato, cucumber and lettuce for an optional side

Preparation

Set up before taking the fish from the refrigerator: clean the grill, prepare a clean plate for cooked fish, a separate plate for raw fish and a wide spatula. Keep fish at 0–4°C until needed and wash hands after handling it.

Check that the fish is fresh, with no strong or ammonia-like smell. Rinse briefly with cold drinking water only if needed, then dry well with clean paper. Ask the fishmonger to gut and scale a whole fish; check the cavity and remove accessible bones.

With a clean knife, make two or three shallow cuts on each side of a whole fish without reaching the backbone. Dry each steak. These cuts help heat travel evenly and let the marinade adhere without a long rest.

Mix lime juice and zest, garlic, ginger, oil, salt and optional piri-piri. Reserve a spoonful in a clean container for finishing before it touches raw fish. Coat the fish with the rest and refrigerate for 10 minutes; prolonged acid contact can toughen the surface.

During the 10-minute rest, heat a barbecue or griddle to medium-high. Clean the hot bars with a suitable brush and lightly oil them using paper held with tongs. In a kitchen, ventilate well and do not let the oil smoke.

Place the fish over the hot area and cook about 6–7 minutes per side, depending on thickness; thick steaks take about 5–7 minutes per side. Do not move the fish until the skin releases. Turn once with a wide spatula without pressing or piercing the flesh.

Check the thickest part with a clean thermometer: reach 63°C at the centre. Time is an estimate, not a substitute for temperature, because species, shape and grill heat change the cooking time. Transfer to the clean cooked-food plate and rest for 2 minutes.

Add the clean reserved marinade, scatter coriander if desired and serve at once with rice, xima or cassava and fresh salad. Mention any chilli and fish, then offer lime and condiments separately so everyone can adjust their plate.