World Stroll
Malagasy recipe

How to make Fish in coconut sauce

Poisson au coco

The coasts, especially the northwest around Mahajanga and the east

Commons: Poisson au coco
Photo: Chirocca77, CC0

Pieces of fresh fish gently cooked in coconut milk with onion, tomato, garlic and sometimes a little ginger or curry powder, then served with rice. On the coasts, coconut takes the place of the tomato sauces of the highlands.

Serves 4 35 min

Ingredients

  • 600 g firm white fish fillets, cut into large pieces
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger or mild curry powder (optional)
  • 400 ml coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • Salt, lime juice, and cooked rice to serve

Method

  1. Season the fish with salt and a squeeze of lime and set aside.
  2. Cook the onion in the oil until soft, then add the garlic, ginger or curry powder and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Pour in the coconut milk and bring it to a gentle simmer; do not let it boil hard.
  4. Lay the fish in the sauce and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until it flakes easily.
  5. Taste for salt and serve at once with rice.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.

Coconut palms were not common on the island until plantations were planted in the 1800s; today coconut is part of almost every coastal kitchen.

More from Madagascar