Keep your freshwater fish fillets flavorful and moist by using foil pouches and a sauce to protect them from overcooking or other harm.
Grilling freshwater fish fillets over a fire can be tricky. A lot of the species have small fillets with lean flesh and delicate textures. It’s all too easy to dry them out or have them crumble between the grates. You can solve those problems by using foil pouches and a bit of sauce – in this case, a coconut curry sauce – which make your fillets far more impervious to overcooking or other harm. This recipe is especially good for shore lunches over a campfire, but it also works well on a backyard propane or charcoal grill, or right in your kitchen’s oven.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fish fillets, boneless if possible (with freshwater fish, either scale them or remove the skin)
- 1/4 cup green curry paste
- 1/4 cup coconut milk, water or Fish Stock
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4 sprigs fresh Thai basil
- 4 sprigs fresh cilantro
- 1 stalk fresh lemongrass, outer leaves discarded, halved, smashed with the back of a knife
- Coconut Rice
To Grill Over a Fire:
Build a fire, preferably with hardwoods, that can accommodate a cooking grate and let the wood cook down to a bed of hot embers. While your fire burns down, prepare the fish.
If using a household grill, preheat a gas grill to medium-high heat.
Rinse the fillets and pat them dry. Stir the curry paste, coconut milk and oil in a small bowl until smooth.
Cross two 12- by 24-inch pieces of foil. Place the fillets in the center, smear them with the curry paste and layer them with the basil, cilantro and lemongrass. Fold the foil around the fish and crimp to create a pouch.
Carefully lay the cooking grate 6 to 8 inches over the bed of embers. Your hand should be able to withstand only 4 seconds of time hovering over the fire. If you can hold your hand longer, add a little more fuel to the fire.
Place the packages of fish on the grates. Grill, covered, for 4 minutes; you should be able to hear the liquid inside the foil sizzling. Carefully flip the package and grill the other side, covered, for another 4 minutes, or longer for fillets that are more than 3/4-inch thick. Transfer to a tray or platter and carefully open the package. Serve the fish with coconut rice.
Also Works With:
Stick with white-fleshed fillets that can be easily deboned, such as walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass or lake whitefish. Northern pike are great like this, but be careful of those bones! It’s also great with many saltwater species ranging from flounder to rockfish to snapper. (The photograph above features the fillets of a small saltwater flatfish.)
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