Coconut Fish and Tomato Bake

By Yewande Komolafe

Updated September 18, 2024

  • A fish fillet is bathed in coconut-ginger sauce with roasted cherry tomatoes on a light gray plate. A smaller plate of lime wedges is nearby.
    Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Judy Kim.
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Total Time
20 minutes, plus 15 minutes’ marinating
Rating
5(12,803)
Comments
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A coconut-milk dressing infused with garlic, ginger, turmeric and lime coats fish fillets in this sheet-pan dinner. Accompanying the fish are bright bursts of tomatoes which turn jammy under the broiler and relinquish some of their juices to the pan sauce. This sauce is silky enough to coat a spoon and packed with flavor. It pairs well with anything from snapper to flounder and even salmon, so choose the fillets that look best at the market. You’ll want to sop up the sauce with thick slices of grilled or toasted baguette, or spoon it over steamed rice.

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Ingredients

Yield: 4 servings

  • ¾ cup unsweetened coconut milk

  • 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, scrubbed and finely grated

  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated

  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric

  • ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes

  • 1 tablespoon honey

  • Kosher salt

  • 2 limes

  • ½ cup chopped cilantro

  • 4 (6-ounce) fish fillets, such as snapper, haddock, striped bass, fluke, sablefish or salmon, skin on or off

  • 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

17 grams carbs; 63 milligrams cholesterol; 407 calories; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 22 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 1031 milligrams sodium; 38 grams protein; 10 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, ginger, garlic, turmeric, red-pepper flakes, honey and 1 teaspoon salt. Zest and juice 1 lime directly into the coconut milk mixture. Stir in ¼ cup chopped cilantro.

  2. Step 2

    Add the fish fillets and turn to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position. Arrange another rack in the position closest to the broiler heat source. Heat oven to 425 degrees.

  4. Step 4

    Place the tomatoes on a large sheet pan. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt and toss to coat. Place the marinated fish between the tomatoes and spoon all the marinade from the bowl over the fish. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil over the fish. Transfer the pan to the lower-middle rack and roast until the surface of the fish is opaque but the center is not cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness of the fish. The fish should not flake easily with a fork. Remove the pan from the oven and heat the broiler to high.

  5. Step 5

    Move the pan to the broiler and finish cooking, rotating the pan once, until the fish is tender and the tomatoes are just beginning to brown in spots, 5 to 6 minutes, depending on thickness of the fish. Slice the remaining lime into wedges.

  6. Step 6

    Divide the tomatoes and fish among dishes and tip the pan juices over the fish. Garnish with the remaining ¼ cup cilantro and serve with lime wedges for squeezing.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
12,803 user ratings
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Comments

Quix36

Excellent. Only thing I would do differently next time is to cut the tomatoes in half. Roasting them whole, the little buggers exploded all over the inside of my oven.

Ben

For a leafy green side-dish without any extra clean up, add some spinach at the broiling phase. The leaves soak up all the wonderful marinade and tomato juices. Pairs well with crusty bread. Delicious!!!

Shari Gresh

My grandmother had been cooking this kind of fish with coconut milk/turmeric 40-50 years ago since I was born. This is also a very common way to cook fish in southern Thailand. If the fish is a fresh catch, or whole, you can simply use this coconut/turmeric mixture to marinate or brush on fish for grilling. Less sauce but flavor will be absorbed. Serve golden grilled fish with spicy sea food dipping sauce made of fresh chilly/garlic/lime juice/sugar/a little fish sauce, and you'll be in heaven.

Nohea

family friendly notes. double sauce recipe = whole can of coconut milk done with 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced into thin strips. sauce ingredients into mini blender. all ingredient amounts the same except: - leave cilantro and chilis out (whoever can add fresh cilantro and chili sauce to their plate at the end) - half lime zest *after blend, add extra salt/honey as needed (some limes are juicer than others etc) chicken into baking pan (not sheet). dump half of sauce onto chicken to marinate. other half of sauce (about 2 cups -ish) gets combined with water to make 3 cups of liquid. add salt as needed. dump onto 1.5 cups basmati rice and cook in rice cooker. veggies of choice prepared separately

Katja

So good, especially for a “boring” wild-caught flounder fillets! I omitted the honey and it was still perfect 😋

Christian

I made it with red snapper filets (less than a inch thick) and after 8 minutes in a hot oven and 5 under the broiler they were overcooked. Next time I’ll remove the fish and skip the broiler

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