Steamed Mahimahi With Coconut Rice & Tempura Crab

Ingredients

Taro
(*Thinly slice the end of a taro into chips and deep fry until crisp.)
Medium grain rice
Coconut cream
Grated coconut
Coconut crab
Tempura batter
Bok Choy
Fresh Ginger root
Spring Onion
Light Soy Sauce (4 Tablespoons)
Seasame Oil (2 Tablespoons)
Peanut Oil
Tempura batter mix

Method

Tempura crab:

Boil crab until nearly but not quite cooked through. Allow to drain and stand before shelling crab meat, trying to keep pieces whole.
Batter in Tempura mix and deep or shallow fry until crisp

Coconut rice:

Bring rice to the boil with water and season with salt. When rice is almost cooked add 1 and ½ cups coconut cream and finish with grated coconut for texture. Rice should be moist and firm.

Bok choy:

Cut the Bok Choy in half and put into a hot pan with a little bit of water and chopped ginger to simmer through.

Cooking the fish:

Mix 4 tablespoons of light soy sauce and 2 tablespoons together into a bowl.
Thinly slice the spring onion length-ways, into strips 5-8cm in length. Also slice half the fresh ginger into matching strips, but cut a few wider
pieces to add to the fish as it cooks.
Put half a cup of Peanut Oil into a separate pan on a high heat.
Cut the Mahi-Mahi into serving sized pieces.
Next add a thin layer of water to a deep-dish pan with lid, or electric fry pan with lid and bring to a simmer. Add Bok Choy leaves to create a
base for the fish sit on, elevated just above the water. This is so the fish is steamed and not boiled.
Place the fish on the bed of Bok Choy in the pan and put the wider sliced ginger on top of the fish.
Put lid over pan to steam the fish, remember we don’t want to cook the fish all the way through. Take the lid of and remove fish just before it is
completely cooked.
Remove the ginger and place the par-cooked fish onto a plate. Place on top the thinly sliced spring onion, and thinly sliced fresh ginger.
Using a spoon, ladle ¾ of the mixed soy sauce and sesame oil across the top of the fish, ginger and spring onion.
Carefully pour the hot peanut oil across the top of the fish, ginger and spring onion to complete the cooking process.
Add the last of the soy/sesame mix after this.

Plating Up

Press cooked Coconut Rice into a small serving sized bowl and tip out carefully onto a serving plate so that it retains its shape.
Add the cooked bok choy to the top of the rice and place a piece of fish with its ginger and spring onion topping on to Bok Choy.
Sprinkle Taro Chips around the plate and cut the tempura crab pieces in half before adding on top of the fish to complete the dish.

Chef BJ Rex

After training in New Zealand under well-known chef Simon Gault, BJ Rex returned to his homeland of Niue full of ideas on how to best utilize things locally. An avid fisherman BJ started the Falala fa Café and began cooking and experimenting with local ferns/herbs/vegetables, and of course fish. Our target fish ‘Mahi-Mahi’ is a favourite of BJ’s, and he combines it here beautifully with another local delicacy, a prized coconut crab.

Wine Match

Peter Yealands Pinot Gris 2018

Brimming with pear drop, fig and nutty characters, leading to flavours of stone fruit and honey. The palate is full and perfectly balanced with a refreshing finish. This lovely Pinot Gris is vegan friendly and has won gold at the Sydney International Wine Competition 2019.

The Falala Fa Cafe, Niue, South Pacific

What better way to score good siblings points, than to name your restaurant ‘The 4 beautiful sisters’ which is exactly what BJ has done here. Situated on Niue Island, the warm tropical atmosphere and great prices makes this a must visit when in town.