Disclaimer: In December 2019, I was commissioned to develop a variety of recipes for Dairy Australia. This is one of them, featuring the use of yoghurt. Styling and photography by me. Both the recipe and the photo is now property of Dairy Australia, however I was given permission to publish them on my website. © Dairy Australia. All rights reserved.
Today, we’re going classic. Fish en papillote is as classic French as it gets. I there are a million ways to steam food, but I really like this way of steaming ‘in paper’ in the oven. Mainly because I like the way it is served: a little parcel on a plate, that each guest opens themselves to reveal the steamy, heavenly, aromatic goodness inside.
I recommend a white fish like cod or snapper, that is naturally flaky when cooked. You want the fill to break into lovely moist flakes when you cut into it. The juices of the orange butter and the salsa it is sitting on will make it steam inside the paper pouch, just be careful not to overcook it.
Mango, orange and fish, you’re asking? Well, you want a bit of acidity with your fish, right? Plenty of that in orange and mango. But they also add some more complex flavours that a good old lemon can’t provide. And the butter penetrates the fish as it steams away, making it tender and infusing it with goodness.
How to fold
- Cut a piece of parchment paper into a large oval. It needs to be big enough so when you fold it in half, one side can easily fit the fish, with at least 5 cm clearance around all sides.
- Place the salsa, fish and butter on one side of the fold, then close it up and start making little folds around the perimeter, starting at the top. I like to do small double folds of roughly 1 cm width to ensure no air can escape.
- When you reach the end, twist the paper together so that the folds stay in place and the whole parcel is tightly sealed.
Orange and mango fillet of fish en papillote
Ingredients
- 4 x 130g white fish fillets skinned and deboned
Orange butter
- 100 g unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- ½ chilli
- zest of 1 orange
- 5 leaves mint
- ½ teaspoon salt
Green mango salsa
- ½ small onion
- 1 green mango firm
- ½ red capsicum
- ½ chilli
- 10 leaves mint
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan forced).
- For the orange butter, grate ginger, finely chop chilli and mint, zest the orange and combine all with softened butter. Season with salt. Refrigerate.
- To make the salsa, dice onion, mango and capsicum. Thinly slice chilli and mint and combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle with orange and lemon juice and mix well. Season with salt.
- Prepare four pieces of parchment paper by cutting them into large ovals, approximately 40x30cm. Spread salsa onto one side of the paper. Place fish fillet on the salsa and top with pieces of orange butter. Close the pouch, then starting at one point, tightly fold the edges to form a seal, continuing along the perimeter. Twist the end to prevent it from unfolding. Repeat with the other three portions. Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Serve unopened in the paper.
