Baked fish rice paper rolls recipe

1 (1.5kg) whole white fish, cleaned. I've used snapper, wild caught barramundi, or even red emperor when it's in season. Buy one from a good fishmonger and ask them to clean and gut it for you. 

1 nub (8cm) of ginger, roughly sliced into thick medallions.

1 tablespoon (2-3 cloves) of garlic, finely chopped.

1 tablespoon of fish sauce.

5 makrut lime leaves (optional). I didn’t have these on hand when I made this recipe but I usually stuff the leaves inside the fish and it infuses the flesh with this beautiful lime aroma, so I’d highly recommend it.

4 stalks of spring onion. Half finely chopped for the spring onion oil and the other half cut into 8cm lengths to stuff the fish.

1 lemon, cut into thick slices.

2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Use half for the fish and the other half for the spring onion oil.

250g of rice vermicelli or 10 rice vermicelli sheets/banh hoi.

1-2 heads of lettuce (Vietnamese is best but I will also use cos), washed and leaves picked.

2 cucumbers, cut into 8cm batons.

3-4 bunches of fresh herbs, washed. I always get mint, Vietnamese mint, coriander as the bare minimum and then also get other herbs like shiso/perilla and fish mint if I find them at an asian grocer.

10-15 rice paper sheets.

1/2 cup of Vietnamese dipping sauce. Add a few tablespoons into a small dish for each person. You can find a link to my favourite Vietnamese dipping sauce recipe at the end of the 'What to do' section.

Pull out the fish from the fridge ideally 1 hour before you intend to bake it, allowing it to come to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 200°C while you marinate it.

Prepare the fish by giving it a good clean. I rub the outside and inside with some cooking salt before rinsing off in cold water under the tap and then patting completely dry with a paper towel. Use a knife to make 2-3 diagonal scores along the fish body. This helps the fish cook evenly, especially the thicker parts of the flesh in the centre as the scoring allows heat to penetrate those areas more easily.

Mix the garlic and fish sauce in a bowl to combine and then spread the paste inside the fish. Stuff the fish with the spring onion stalks, ginger slices, lemon slices and makrut lime leaves.

Rub the outside of the fish in some olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Place the fish onto a baking tray lined with foil underneath and then cover the fish with foil, sealing off the edges. The fish is going to steam for most of the cook with all of the foil covering it.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes fully covered at 200°C. Then remove the foil and continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the fish is fully cooked. You can check this by using a fork and lifting a bit of the flesh from the centre. If it is completely white/opaque then it is cooked.

While the fish is baking in the oven, wash the lettuce and herbs and arrange them on a platter with the cucumber. Place the rice paper sheets on another plate to serve.

Prepare the vermicelli. I normally just boil some for a few minutes and drain under water as you would pasta but I’ve recently been using rice vermicelli sheets as they are so simple to prepare. If you find these and want to eat them, place them into a shallow dish and pour some boiling water over them for 1-2 minutes to simply rehydrate, then drain them and cut into squares or rectangles to your liking. I normally cut them into half for wrapping in rice paper rolls. You will also need to spread some spring onion oil as a garnish on top before serving.

Pull the fish out of the oven and allow it to rest for 2 minutes, while you prep the spring onion oil.

Mix the finely chopped spring onion, 1.5 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt in a small bowl and then microwave for 30-45 seconds or until the oil is fragrant and the spring onions have softened.

Spread the spring onion oil all over the outside of the fish and onto the vermicelli sheets before serving and eating immediately.

Slightly wet your rice paper sheet and place it on your plate to soften. Place a piece of lettuce down, then a sheet/tablespoon worth of the vermicelli noodles, a few sprigs of herbs, a cucumber slice and a piece of fish.

Roll the rice paper, tucking in both sides like a burrito and gently squeeze it once rolled to seal up the edges.