Take a break from salmon or tuna with this gluten-free recipe: Smoked Trout on Betel Leaves

Ingredients:

  • 125g smoked trout fillet, skin off and diced
  • 20 betel leaves
  • 75g toasted coconut
  • 75g unsalted, roasted, crushed peanuts
  • 2 dsp shallots, finely diced
  • 2 dsp ginger, finely diced
  • 1 lime, peeled and finely diced
  • 3 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped

 
For sauce:

  • 4 dsp fish sauce
  • 60g palm sugar
  • 1/2 dsp Thai shrimp paste
  • 2 dsp tamarind juice
  • 1 stalk lemongrass, chopped
  • 1 dsp galangal, chopped 


Method:

  1. To make the Sauce: mix all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Cook for a few minutes gently on a low heat, stirring continuously until the palm sugar has dissolved and the sauce has thickened slightly. Once the sauce is ready, take it off the heat and pour it through a sieve to remove the lemongrass and galangal. Allow to cool.
  2. To toast the coconut: take a brown shelled coconut, crack it and using a small, sharp knife cut off the flesh and slice into fine pieces. Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven, 150 degrees Celsius/ gas mark 2 until golden brown. You can use desiccated coconut but fresh coconut is much tastier. 
  3. To prepare the filling: using a spoon, lightly mix together the prepared coconut, peanuts, shallots, ginger, lime, bird’s eye chillies and smoked trout and a little of the sauce to bind the ingredients together.
  4. To serve: lay out the betel leaves and using a spoon, divide the mixture between the leaves and top with a little more sauce. They can be served flat on the dish, or they can be rolled so that the betel leaves holds the mixture- easier to eat!

    Recipe courtesy of Saba restaurant, in Dublin.