This is a good recipe for any whole fish, but these small little pomfrets are well-suited to soak up all the flavors.
Marinade/Crust
- 2 stalks lemongrass
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 3 thai bird chilies
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Black pepper
Cut off the green fibrous ends of the lemongrass, and slice thin then mince as fine as possible. Combine with garlic, chilies, fish sauce, sugar, and pepper.
Score the pomfrets on a bias (this helps the flavor to seep into the flesh). Coat with marinade, and allow to sit for half hour or more.
Heat neutral vegetable (i.e. peanut) oil in pan, and fry the pomfrets on each side, 3-4 minutes per side.
The skin become crisp and really holds a lot of flavor. This is great with plain, steamed jasmine rice. I’ll even scrape the pan of the leftover, browned bits of the crust (and oil) and eat that alongside the fish and rice.
This can also be adapted for a skinless filet (like halibut, above), but really works well with a whole fish.
I did this last year for a bbq, just started tossing things into my food processor. Used perch, caught by my daddy from the Pacific though. It was great. Try adding in a spoonful of tom yum paste.