Asian-Style Baked Fish Packages
We are inspired by one of our earliest cookbooks to create an asian-themed "fish in a packet." We use aluminum foil to bake individual servings of fish, noodles, and vegetables - a complete meal in a package with little clean-up. The soaked cellophane noodles are at the base, and they are topped with quick-cooking shredded carrots, scallions, and baby corn. The noodles and vegetables serve as a bed for fresh tilapia and a ginger-soy-lemon sauce completes the package. All of the flavors combine when baked for an easy, healthy, fish dinner. Originally served as part of: Fish in a Packet.
Ingredients
- 1 bundle dried, from a 3.75 oz package cellophane noodles
- 1 large carrot (scrubbed)
- 2 medium scallions
- 8 spears whole, canned baby corn (rinsed)
- 1 1-inch piece fresh ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 1½ pounds fresh, tilapia, 4 fillets fish (rinsed and patted dry)
- red pepper flakes
- fresh cilantro (cleaned)
Instructions
We begin by preheating the oven to 450°. We put our teakettle, filled with water, on high heat and place the bundle of cellophane noodles in a medium bowl. When the water is almost at a boil, we pour the hot water over the noodles to cover. We set this aside while we prepare the vegetables.
We peel and trim our carrot and then grate with the coarse side of our 4-sided grater. This yields about 1 cup of carrots, which we place on a large dinner plate. We rinse and trim our scallions and then slice. We put these on the plate as well, with the whole baby corn spears.
In a prep bowl, we get ready our sauce ingredients. We rinse, pat dry, and then peel our ginger with our chef's knife. Using the microplane, we grate the ginger directly into the prep bowl. We also put our garlic clove into a garlic press and press this into the bowl as well. We stir in the soy sauce, sesame oil, and lemon juice, and set aside.
The cellophane noodles have softened so we drain and rinse them with cold water. With kitchen scissors, we cut up the noodles into smaller pieces.
We take four large pieces of aluminum foil and fold each of them in half to make an approximate 12 x 12 inch square. We divide the canola oil between them, smearing the oil onto the center of each square. We top each with some of the cellophane noodles, carrots, scallions, and corn. We spoon on about half of the sauce, divided between the four portions. We top each with a fillet of fish and then spoon on the rest of the sauce and sprinkle with the red pepper flakes.
We fold the foil into airtight packages and place on a cookie sheet. We bake for 20 minutes until the fish is cooked through, the vegetables are tender, and the noodles have absorbed the wonderful flavors of the sauce and fish. We carefully open the packages and transfer to dinner plates. We serve garnished with cilantro.
Ingredients
- 1 bundle cellophane noodles (from a 3.75-oz package)
- 1 large carrot (grated on the coarse side, about 1 cup)
- 2 medium scallions (sliced)
- 8 spears canned baby corn (rinsed)
- 1 1-inch piece fresh ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1½ lb fresh tilapia fillets (4, rinsed and patted dry)
- red pepper flakes
- fresh cilantro
Instructions
What's a kid job?
A Kid job is a step kids can help with, with a grown-up nearby, not one they do on their own. Every kid is different, so go by what your child can do rather than by age. Roughly:
- Little ones (about 2 to 4) can stir, pour in ingredients a grown-up has measured, tear lettuce, wash vegetables and sprinkle toppings.
- Older kids (about 5 to 8) can also measure and level, crack eggs, whisk, roll and cut out dough, and put things together.
- Bigger kids can read the recipe aloud, keep track of the timer, and take on more of the cooking as they're ready.
Steps with a knife, microplane, skewers, stove, oven, grill or hot oil, or with raw meat, poultry or seafood, are marked Grown-up. Kids can still watch those, from a safe distance.
Heat the oven to 450°F. Put the noodles in a medium bowl and cover them with water just off the boil. Let them soften while you prepare everything else.
Peel and grate the carrot, slice the scallions, and set them on a plate with the baby corn.
Grown-up
Peel the ginger with a knife and grate it into a small bowl on the microplane. Press in the garlic and stir in the soy sauce, sesame oil and lemon juice.
Drain the noodles, rinse with cold water, and cut them shorter with kitchen scissors.
Kid job
Fold 4 large sheets of foil in half into roughly 12-inch squares. Smear a little oil in the center of each and pile on noodles, carrots, scallions and corn. Spoon half the sauce over the four. (The kids each built their own packet.)
Grown-up
Lay a fillet on each, spoon on the rest of the sauce, and sprinkle with pepper flakes. Fold the foil into airtight packets and set them on a cookie sheet.
Bake 20 minutes, until the fish is cooked through. Open the packets carefully (steam), slide onto plates, and top with cilantro.