Poached snapper with peanuts and rice paper

By: Andreas Pohl, Tracey Lister
From: KOTO
Photographer: Michael Fountoulakis

We were led to the back of seaside restaurant to select our lunch from huge tanks. There was a fantastic array of crabs, prawns, crayfish, sea snails and fish of varying sizes and types, and we could have had each item prepared in at least a dozen different ways. It was all too overwhelming, so we did what any sensible diner would in such a situation—we ordered what the table next to us was enjoying. And this dish proved to be the perfect light lunch we were after.

Make sure you use the freshest of fish for this recipe as it will be just seared in the boiling water, leaving it quite rare in the middle.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
1kg	snapper fillets, skin and bones removed
1	lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon	fish sauce
1/2	long red chilli, finely chopped
4 tablespoons	roasted unsalted peanuts, crushed

Accompaniments

Quantity	Ingredient
1	butter lettuce, separated into cups
1 large handful	coriander leaves
1 large handful	dill sprigs
18	rice-paper wrappers
3	sesame rice crackers, optional
	Peanut sauce

Method

Cut the snapper fillets across the grain into 4 or 5 strips each about 3 cm wide.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to a simmer. Gently lower half the snapper fillets into the water, leave for 5 seconds then remove. Carefully drain and pat dry. Repeat with the remaining half.
Arrange the snapper on a platter with no overlapping pieces.
Combine the lime juice, fish sauce and chilli in a small bowl. Using a small spoon, evenly coat all the fish in this mixture, then sprinkle with the peanuts.
Lay out the lettuce cups, herbs, rice paper, crackers and dipping sauce. To serve, place a small piece of rice cracker, fish and herbs into a lettuce cup, roll up in the rice paper and dip into the peanut sauce.