Raw Fish in Coconut Milk

Ingredients

The fish

• 600 gvery fresh reef fish
• or tuna
• read the safety note first
• skinned and boned
• cut into 2 cm cubes

The cure

• juice of 6 to 8 limes
• enough to cover the fish
• 1 teaspoonsalt

The coconut

• the flesh of 1 mature coconut
• grated and squeezed
• or 400 ml coconut milk
• thick rather than thin

The vegetables

• 1onion, very finely sliced
• or spring onions
• 1cucumber, diced
• 2tomatoes, deseeded and diced
• 1chilli, chopped, optional
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• cold
• with rice
• or boiled taro or breadfruit
• lime wedges

Directions

1. Cut it into cubes of about two centimetres. Use a sharp knife. Put the cubes in a non-metal bowl. Pour enough lime juice to cover. Add the salt. Cure it fifteen to thirty minutes. The outside should be opaque.
2. Drain the lime juice off. That stops the curing. Keep a spoonful to add back if needed. Grate the flesh of a mature coconut. Add a little warm water.
3. Squeeze it hard through muslin. The first pressing is thick. Pierce the soft eye and drain the water.
4. Turn it as you tap until it splits. Never hold a coconut in your palm and swing a blade at it. Slice the onion very finely. Soak the slices in cold water if raw onion is harsh to you.
5. Dice the cucumber small. Deseed the tomatoes and dice them. Put the drained fish in a bowl. Add the vegetables. Pour the coconut milk over.
6. Fold it together gently. Fold rather than stir. Season with salt and pepper. Taste it. It should be sour, fresh and lightly creamy. Add lime juice back if it is flat. Serve it in bowls rather than on plates.
7. Chill it thirty minutes before serving. It must be genuinely cold. Set the bowl in ice on a hot day. Serve it cold. Serve rice or a root vegetable alongside. Serve lime wedges. It does not keep.

Technique

• The atlas holds a near-identical Tuvalu entry, and the two descriptions differ only in the words coconut cream and coconut milk. The atlas cannot establish a real difference beyond that, so this entry cross-references rather than repeating — the full method and safety account is given under the Tuvalu dish. The essential safety points are repeated here because they matter too much to leave to a cross-reference.
• Lime juice does not kill parasites. Many wild marine fish carry worms such as anisakis, and only freezing or thorough cooking kills them — buy fish frozen for raw consumption and ask the fishmonger directly.
• This dish specifically uses reef fish, so ciguatera applies directly. Ciguatoxins survive cooking, freezing and curing alike, the fish looks and tastes normal, and there is no test a cook can perform. Local knowledge about which species and which waters is the only real protection.
• Anyone pregnant, immunocompromised, with liver disease, very young or elderly should not eat raw fish.
• Cure fifteen to thirty minutes, until the outside is opaque and the centre still slightly translucent. Over-curing turns it chalky and dry, which is the commonest failure.
• Drain the lime juice off after curing. It stops the process and stops the coconut splitting — keep a spoonful to add back if the finished dish is flat.
• Made with milk rather than cream it comes out looser, closer to a soup than a salad. Serve it in bowls.
• Use a glass, ceramic or plastic bowl. Lime juice reacts with aluminium and unlined copper.
• Deseed the tomatoes, which otherwise water the dish down, and slice the onion very finely.
• Fold rather than stir. Cured fish is delicate and breaks up easily.
• Never hold a coconut in your palm and swing a blade at it. Tap around its equator with the back of a heavy knife, turning as you go.
• Eat it within a few hours and never keep it overnight. The fish goes on curing and the coconut separates.
• Coconut is central to life in Kiribati beyond cooking — toddy tapped from the flower spathe is drunk fresh as karewe or boiled down to the syrup kamaimai. Kiribati is also among the countries most exposed to sea level rise, its atolls sitting only metres above the sea.

Substitutions

• Tuna or any firm fish frozen for raw consumption replaces reef fish and avoids the ciguatera question.
• Tinned coconut milk replaces fresh, at some cost in flavour.
• Coconut cream in place of milk gives the richer Tuvalu-style dish.
• Spring onions replace sliced onion for a milder result.
• Chilli, ginger or capsicum are added in various island versions.
• Briefly cooking the fish makes a different dish and removes the raw-fish risks entirely.

Variations

• Raw fish in coconut cream in Tuvalu is the near-identical neighbour dish.
• Oka i’a in Samoa, ota ika in Tonga and ika mata in the Cook Islands are the same idea.
• Poisson cru in Tahiti is the best known version outside the Pacific.
• Kokoda in Fiji often adds capsicum and more chilli.
• Te bua toro ni baukin and other Kiribati dishes use the same coconut and fish base.
• A version with the fish seared briefly is made for those who prefer it cooked.

Frequently asked questions

What is Raw Fish in Coconut Milk?

Raw Fish in Coconut Milk is a main from Kiribati: fresh reef fish marinated in lime juice and coconut cream.

How long does Raw Fish in Coconut Milk take to make?

Raw Fish in Coconut Milk takes 30 minutes plus curing of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Raw Fish in Coconut Milk?

Yes, within limits. Tuna or any firm fish frozen for raw consumption replaces reef fish and avoids the ciguatera question. Tinned coconut milk replaces fresh, at some cost in flavour. Coconut cream in place of milk gives the richer Tuvalu-style dish. Spring onions replace sliced onion for a milder result. Chilli, ginger or capsicum are added in various island versions. Briefly cooking the fish makes a different dish and removes the raw-fish risks entirely.

What is the most important thing to get right in Raw Fish in Coconut Milk?

Turn it as you tap until it splits. Never hold a coconut in your palm and swing a blade at it. Slice the onion very finely. Soak the slices in cold water if raw onion is harsh to you.