Roast fish

🐟 Whole fish with lime, ginger and garlic roasted in the oven, a home adaptation shared in four portions.

Ingredients

• 2 whole fish, 600–700 g each, gutted, scaled and prepared by the fishmonger
• 30 ml lime juice
• 15 g grated fresh ginger
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 20 ml neutral oil
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• A little fresh chilli, optional
• Up to ½ teaspoon salt

Preparation

Preheat a conventional oven to 210 °C. Check prepared fish, remove remaining scales and pat dry. Make two or three shallow cuts on each side.

Mix lime, ginger, garlic, oil, pepper, optional chilli and some salt. Spread over fish and cavities without large garlic clumps on skin.

Cover and refrigerate twenty minutes. Place fish in one layer in a suitable dish without crowding.

Roast about thirty minutes, checking from twenty-five. Baste once with pan juices without moving roughly.

Check thick flesh near the backbone with a clean probe: reach 63 °C with opaque flesh that flakes easily. Extend according to size.

Remove backbone and small bones carefully at serving. Divide edible flesh into four fairly equal portions; sides are separate.