Crispy-skinned barramundi with green mango som tam salad

Som tam salad is a traditional Thai salad typically made with green papaya and dressed with a spicy, fish sauce, lime and palm sugar dressing. This version from Jerry Mai switches out the papaya for thinly sliced green mangoes, pairs it with crispy-skinned barramundi fillets and suggests the perfect margarita to drink it with.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 x 200 g barramundi fillets
• Vegetable oil, for cooking
• Salt
• 4 makrut lime leaves
• Cooked jasmine rice, to serve
• Tommy’s Margarita cocktails, to serve (see Note)
  

Som tam salad 

• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 carrot, thinly julienned
• 100 g green beans, trimmed, halved
• 2 green mangoes, thinly julienned (using a mandolin)
  

Dressing 

• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 birds’ eye chillies
• 30 g palm sugar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 limes, juiced

Instructions

1. Heat a generous drizzle of vegetable oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Season the barramundi fillets generously with salt on both sides, then press a single makrut lime leaf firmly into the centre of the skin of the fish fillet. Place the fillets into the hot pan, skin-side down and use a spatula to press the fillet into the pan, to secure the lime leaf to the skin. Cook for 8-10 minutes, skin-side down, until browned and crisp, then flip gently, ensuring the lime leaf stays in position. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. Remove to a plate, skin-side up and allow to rest.
   
2. To make the dressing, use an extra-large mortar and pestle to pound the garlic and chilli to a thick paste, then add the palm sugar and pound to a thick paste. Stir through the fish sauce and lime juice, until the palm sugar dissolves. Add the cherry tomatoes, carrot and green beans for the salad to the mortar and pestle and lightly crush with the pestle. Add the shredded green mango and toss to combine with the dressing.
   
3. Serve the crispy-skinned barramundi fillets with the green mango som tam salad, steamed rice and Tommy’s Margarita to drink.

Note

• To make the Tommy’s Margarita recipe (serves 2), rub the rim of 2 x rock glasses with a lime wedge, dip the rim in chilli salt to coat, and set aside. Add 150 ml of good-quality blanco tequila, 90ml lime juice, and 45ml agave nectar to a shaker with ice. Shake until well-chilled. Strain over fresh ice into the prepared glass.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.