Steamed Moroccan Snapper

I cooked this steamed Moroccan snapper dish using a Neil Perry recipe from an episode of Poh’s Kitchen. The chermoula marinade was delicious and it is generally used to flavour any sort of seafood, but it can also be used for meats like lamb and chicken, and vegetables.

Ingredients

• 4 x 200g snapper steak
• 125ml chermoula (recipe follows)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbs honey
• Sea salt
• 125ml water
• 1 preserved lemon quartered, pith removed and rind finely sliced
• 2 tbs chopped coriander leaves

Chermoula (Makes about 500ml)

• 1 Spanish onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 bunch of coriander, including stalks, washed and roughly chopped
• 1 bunch of flat leaf (Italian) parsley, including stalks, washed and roughly chopped
• 1 heaped tsp sea salt
• 1 tbs cumin powder
• 1 tbs coriander powder
• 1 ½ tbs chilli powder
• 1 tbs turmeric powder
• ½ tbs sweet paprika
• 1 ½ tbs ras el hanout (optional), a Moroccan spice mix
• 185ml extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon

To make the Chermoula
Put all the ingredients in a food processor, except the olive oil and lemon juice.
Process for one minute then slowly pour in the olive oil until a thick paste forms.
Stir through the lemon juice. If making ahead, refrigerate until ready to use.

1. In a stainless steel bowl, mix the fish with the chermoula and leave to marinate for one hour.
2. Transfer the fish to a shallow ceramic bowl for steaming (a large pasta bowl is often a good size for this job).
3. Using the bowl containing any remaining chermoula, add the lemon juice, honey, some sea salt and water then mix.
4. Pour the mixture over the fish and top with the preserved lemon rind.
5. Place the bowl in the steamer or on the steamer tray and steam for ten to twelve minutes. A flat fillet will only take four to five minutes. The timing will vary depending on the size of the fish pieces and the depth of the bowl the fish is sitting in. Test using a cake tester or an unbent paper clip. Push this into the flesh, and test against the skin below your lip. The fish is cooked if the clip is warm on the skin.
6. Remove the steamer from the heat.
7. Carefully remove each portion of fish with a fish lifter and place in white bowls.
8. Spoon the sauce left in the bowl over the fish.
9. Sprinkle with the coriander leaves and serve immediately.