Delicious Thai-inspired smoked fish stuffed with lemongrass, smoked with scales on to produce a full bodied smoky aroma that complements the natural sweetness of the fish.
Clean the mullet thoroughly, removing all blood clots and innards. But please remember, do not scale the fish!
Use a sharp knife to make 2 deep cuts inside the stomach of the mullet on either sides of the centre bone to deepen the cavity and allow the flavour of the lemongrass mixture to penetrate into the meat. Pat dry and set aside.
Wash the lime leaves, chilli, garlic and lemon grass.
Cut the lime leaves into thin strips.
Slice the lemon grass and garlic diagonally into thin slices.
Cut the chilli into small pieces.
Place the lime leaves, lemon grass, garlic, chilli and a pinch of salt into a small bowl.
Squeeze the lemon juice and pour it into the lime leaves mixture. Mix well.
Stuff the lemon grass mixture into the cavity of the mullet as well as the deep slits you made earlier, until the stuffing fills up the whole cavity.
COOKING (15 min)
In a wok, put in 2 TBsp of coarse salt and spread the salt out in a straight line, about 2" wide (the length of the fish). Turn on the heat to high.
Place the fish on top of the salt and press the mullet down with a spatula to flatten out the salt evenly.
Then, cover the mullet with a wok cover and let it cook for 5 mins over high heat.
After 5 minutes, take out the fish without removing the salt.
Place another 2 TBsp of coarse salt in the wok similar to the previous step.
Turn the mullet over and place it on top of the salt and press it down with a spatula. Cover the fish and cook for another 5 mins.
Once the mullet is done, transfer it on a serving plate.
Before serving, use the sharp knife to cut through the scale at the back of the fish. Use the knife and a fork to flip the fish skin with scale over to the belly side exposing the meat.
After eating one side of the fish, turn the fish over and do likewise.
You can serve this fish with Belachan Chilli, Thai Chilli Sauce or squeeze the other half of the lemon juice on the fish.
Notes
MARKETING TIPS
When you buy the Grey Mullet, the fishmonger will ask if you want to descale the fish. Make sure to tell him/her not to remove the scales. Leaving the scales on actually helps to retain the natural sweetness and distinctive flavour of the fish.
COOKING TIPS
The heat must be turned on to high in order to smoke the fish to give it a full-bodied smoky aroma. It will be slightly smokey when you are cooking the fish. But don't panic, you actually want it to be slightly smokey as this fish is cooked via smoking.
For this reason, is the very important to add the layer of coarse salt to the wok as it helps to prevent the skin from getting burnt during the cooking process.
Don't worry if the skin is a bit burnt. After all the skin in not going to be eaten.
This method of cooking is best used for Mullet, Sea Bass and Black Tilapia. But remember not to descale the fish if you are using this method of cooking. For larger fish like Sea Bass, the cooking will be slightly longer, perhaps 1 or 2 mins longer.
When flipping the skin over, be careful to minimise contact of the coarse salt with the fish meat, otherwise it will end up too salty.
Do not wrap the fish with aluminium foil. By wrapping it with the foil, you will end up steaming the fish rather than smoking it, and the end result will be totally different.
You can also add blue ginger strips into the lime leaves mixture.