Table Trotter

Dinner night · Vanuatu

Coconut Fish Parcels with Island Greens

Vanuatu-inspired fish baked in parchment with coconut cream, lime and ginger, alongside a laplap-inspired baked sweet potato and coconut cake and greens simmered in coconut milk.

Vanuatu · back to the map
On our list — not yet cooked
Coconut Fish Parcels with Island Greens: Vanuatu-inspired fish baked in parchment with coconut cream, lime and ginger, alongside a laplap-inspired baked sweet potato and coconut cake and greens simmered in coconut milk
AI-generated illustration
Prep
25 min
Cook
40 min
Total
65 min
Serves
2 adults + 1 child
Budget
$20–$32

Three parts, one oven: fish fillets sealed in parchment parcels with coconut cream, lime, ginger and scallion, so they steam in their own fragrant liquid; a baked cake of grated sweet potato bound with coconut milk, borrowing its idea from laplap, Vanuatu's national dish; and leafy greens simmered in coconut milk the way island cabbage is cooked across the country. Everything is mild, soft and coconut-rich, with lime to keep it fresh. The parcels open at the table, which is half the fun.

Why it's on our list

Vanuatu's everyday food is built from a short list of ingredients we can actually buy, coconut, root vegetables, fish and greens, which makes it a good test of whether a Pacific dinner can be honest rather than themed. The parcel method is something I have wanted to try with fish anyway: forgiving, moist, and each person gets their own package. The laplap-inspired cake is the part I am least sure about; real laplap is pounded and baked in leaves in an earth oven for hours, and I want to see how close a grated-and-baked version gets. My son can help grate and fold the parcels.

Field notes · Origin & culture

Vanuatu's cooking rests on root crops (taro, yam, cassava, sweet potato), coconut in every form, bananas, breadfruit and reef fish, with pork reserved for ceremony. Laplap, the national dish, is a pudding of grated root vegetable or cooking banana mixed with coconut cream, wrapped in leaves and baked on hot stones; making it is a family affair for Sundays and celebrations. Simboro is a quicker relative, rolls of the same paste wrapped in island cabbage leaves and simmered in coconut milk. Fish is routinely cooked in coconut milk or wrapped in leaves over coals. French and British colonial rule left traces too, from baguettes to figure-eight doughnuts at markets. This recipe draws on those methods; it is our adaptation, not a traditional Ni-Vanuatu dish.

Noteworthy ingredients

  • Firm white fish fillets: Snapper, mahi-mahi, cod or halibut, about 6 oz per adult, skinless. In Vanuatu this would be reef fish from the morning market.
  • Full-fat canned coconut milk: Two cans. The thick top layer is close to the fresh coconut cream Ni-Vanuatu cooks squeeze from grated coconut.
  • Sweet potato: Standing in for the taro, yam or cassava that would go into laplap. Grated raw and baked with coconut milk it sets into a soft, slightly sweet cake. Grated fresh cassava is more traditional if you want to go further.
  • Island cabbage stand-in: Island cabbage (bele, a hibiscus relative) has tender, slightly slippery leaves. Swiss chard or spinach is the practical substitute; bok choy also works.
  • Parchment paper: Banana leaves are the traditional wrapper; parchment or foil does the same job in a home oven.

Prep — 25 min

  1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Open both cans of coconut milk without shaking; spoon the thick cream from the top of one can (about 1/2 cup) into a small bowl for the parcels. Stir the rest together in a measuring cup.
  2. Peel and coarsely grate the sweet potatoes. Squeeze a handful at a time in a clean towel to remove excess liquid.
  3. In a bowl, mix the grated sweet potato with 1 cup of the coconut milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the brown sugar. Oil the baking dish and press the mixture in evenly, about 1 inch deep.
  4. Grate the ginger, mince the garlic, and slice the scallions, keeping green tops aside. Zest 1 lime and juice 2. Dice the tomato.
  5. Cut three 15-inch squares of parchment. Season the fish portions with salt and pepper.
  6. Strip the chard leaves from the stems; slice stems thin and tear the leaves.

Cook — 40 min

  1. Put the sweet potato dish in the oven and bake 35–40 minutes, until the top is lightly browned at the edges and a knife in the center comes out hot and clean. Start the fish parcels after it has baked 15 minutes.
  2. Build the parcels: lay a fish portion in the center of each parchment square. Top with a third of the ginger, garlic, white scallion slices and tomato. Spoon over 2–3 tablespoons of the reserved thick coconut cream, a squeeze of lime juice and a pinch of lime zest.
  3. Bring two opposite edges of the parchment together over the fish and fold them down in 1/2-inch pleats to seal, then twist the ends closed like a candy wrapper. Set the parcels on a sheet pan.
  4. Bake the parcels 12–15 minutes, depending on thickness; the fish is done at 140°F, or when it flakes when pressed through the paper.
  5. While the parcels bake, make the greens: heat oil in a skillet over medium, add chard stems and cook 3 minutes. Add the leaves and a pinch of salt, toss until wilted, then pour in the remaining coconut milk (about 1 cup). Simmer 4–5 minutes until tender and slightly thickened. Finish with a squeeze of lime.
  6. Rest the sweet potato cake 5 minutes, then cut it into squares.

Serving

Give each person a parcel to open at the table so the coconut-lime steam comes up in their face; set a square of sweet potato cake and a spoonful of greens alongside and let the parcel juices run into everything. Scatter scallion tops and put lime wedges out. Nothing is spicy; for a child, open the parcel first and check for bones. Leftover fish is good cold, flaked over rice with lime; the sweet potato cake reheats well in a skillet for breakfast.

← Back to the map