Recipe: Salt-baked fish with blueberry dipping sauce

September 15, 2024 | 10:59am

MANILA, Philippines — When it is blueberry season in the United States, take advantage of the superfruit’s bounty to whip up special dishes for the family.

Just recently, the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council released a set of blueberry recipes developed by some of the top Filipino chefs in the metro, and this one by Chef Kalel Chan of the Raintree Restaurant Group — Salt Baked Snapper Stuffed with Fennel Kaffir and U.S. Blueberries with U.S. Blueberry Nuoc Cham — is a standout.

Salt Baked Snapper Stuffed with Fennel Kaffir and U.S. Blueberries with Blueberry Nuoc Cham

Ingredients:

1 pc. 400-500gram unscaled snapper fish

1 pc. fennel bulb, sliced into julienne

1 pc. tanglad (lemongrass), pounded

2 pcs. kaffir leaves

1 thumb sized pc. peeled ginger, pounded

1 tbsp. dried U.S blueberries

1 pc. long bond paper sized banana leaf

2 cups rock salt

2 egg whites

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C for 15 minutes.

2. Stuff the snapper with fennel, lemongrass, kaffir leaf, ginger, and U.S blueberries in the cavity of the fish.

3. In a bowl, mix together salt and egg whites.

4. Line a baking tray with banana leaf. Place stuffed snapper on banana leaf. Cover whole fish with the salt mixture

5. Bake fish in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

For the blueberry nuoc cham sauce:

1/2 cup fish sauce

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup lime juice

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp. chopped chili

1/2 tsp. chopped garlic

1/2 tsp. chopped shallots

1 tbsp. chopped cilantro

2 pcs. kaffir leaves, chopped

2 tbsps. chopped frozen U.S blueberries

Procedure:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

2. Serve with salt baked fish.

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