Pla Neung Manao (Steamed Lime Fish)

When my best friend told me her Dad had been fishing and she had a trout for us I was over the moon. We'd been promised fish before though usually they never materialised but this time- there it was. When I saw it, I was taken aback by just how big it was- most supermarket trout end up around 1 foot tops but this fella was more like two feet- we wouldn't be going hungry!!

The only fitting way to treat such a beautiful fresh fish was to keep it whole and enjoy it with a vibrant, fresh tasting sauce that wouldn't swamp the mild tasting trout. 'Neung' means to steam but this in itself presented a substantial problem- how to steam such a large fish; there was no way it was fitting in a steamer and it was even too big for my large oval casserole dish. In the end it was placed on a baking rack, in a roasting tray sat over an inch of boiling water filled from the kettle. A tight cover of tin foil, kept up off the skin allowed the whole fish to steam evenly.

And what an amazingly tasty trout it was: a very light flavour, meaty texture and the sauce complemented it beautifully. This is about as healthy as food gets- no guilt whatsoever with this meal! Serve with rice for a full meal.

For 2-4 people use:

• a large trout ( as fresh as you can get and of a size to suit your needs!)
• a large bunch of coriander, just over half left to decorate,the rest finely chopped
• a few chopped red chillies (to suit your taste- I've used 3 in the sauce)
• a bulb (yes, a bulb) of peeled, finely chopped garlic
• 50ml of fish sauce (nam pla)
• juice of 2 juicy limes

Steam your fish using your chosen method depending on it's size and whatever you have in your kitchen that will so the job! Check periodically to see if it's cooked to your liking.

While it cooks, make the 'sauce seafood' (Thai's do actually say 'sauce seafood', they don't translate it to nam talay or similar). Mix the rest of the ingredients and have a taste- it should be predominantly sour but salty and chilli flavours not far behind. Some add some sugar, I prefer not to.

Plate your fish (this is the biggest I had) and serve with the coriander, pouring over the sauce.