Ginger Lime Baked Fish

Easy and elegant are two words that I love to combine in the kitchen. This baked fish, flavored with a fresh lime and ginger sauce, successfully pulls off that combination. In less than half an hour, you can serve a main course that will wow those at your table.

Years before “Thirty-Minute Meals” hit the Food Network back in 2001, Brooke Dojny and Melanie Barnard were publishing a column called “30-Minute Main Courses” in Bon Appétit.  They had a talent for bringing together big flavors from a short list of ingredients and using rather straightforward preparation techniques. I adapted this recipe from their oven roasted sea bass that appeared under the subtitle, “Simple and Sophisticated” in the February 1999 issue of Bon Appétit.

The elegant baked fish fillet is seasoned by a six-ingredient sauce in two ways—once while it bakes, and then as it’s served. The sauce has citrus notes from lime, herb flavors from cilantro, and robust tastes from the Asian trio of soy sauce, ginger, and shallots.

The fillets are coated with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper and then some of the ginger lime sauce before baking at a high temperature. While Dojny and Barnard recommended using only a half-tablespoon of the sauce atop each filet during the baking time, I doubled that.

I also lowered the baking temperature a bit and changed the kind of baking dish. Dojny and Barnard had recommended a pie plate, but I found that the sizzling fish splattered outside of the pan too much. Instead, I used a 2-inch deep square baking dish and was happy it contained the splatters better.

The way this sauce both flavors the baking fillets and accents the completed dish is remarkable. The mild acid of the lime counterbalances the salt of the soy, and the minced ginger, shallot, and cilantro round out the flavor.

We enjoyed our baked fish with stir-fried vegetables and brown rice, which soaked up extra ginger lime sauce.

While the recipe is written for two servings, it doubles and triples well. Easy and elegant or simple and sophisticated–whatever the combination, we loved it.

Ginger Lime Baked Fish

Dawn Dobie

An easy and elegant entrée combining lean fish with a delicate sauce of ginger, lime, and other Asian flavors.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 5 teaspoons olive oil divided, see below
• 2 6 ounce fish fillets--I used haddock-- about 3/4-inch thick, dried off with paper towels
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Mix lime juice, soy sauce, cilantro, ginger, and shallot in a small bowl. Add one tablespoon of oil to the bowl and whisk to combine.
• Pour remaining two teaspoons of olive oil into the bottom of an 8-inch square glass baking dish with 2 inch sides. Tilt the pan so that the oil spreads out evenly over the bottom of the dish.
• Place fish fillets (with presentation side down) on top of oil and season with salt and pepper. Rub fillets around in oil, and then flip over so that the presentation side is up. Season this side with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon 1 tablespoon of lime and ginger mixture over each fillet.
• Bake for 12 minutes.
• Remove from oven and place fillets on serving plate. Spoon additional sauce over, distributing evenly.

Notes

Recipe doubles and triples well.  Adjust to larger baking dish.

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