Name: Barramundi with Mango
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 2 Barramundi fillets -- thin; 4 Tablespoons of Flour (approximate); 2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil; Salt and Pepper; 2-3 Tablespoons of butter; Chopped parsley (optional); Lemon juice (amount of a half lemon); Approximately 1 cup mango puree (2 mangos); ½ cup sugar; 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice (approx. juice of 1 medium lemon); 1 teaspoon lemon zest; 3 egg yolks; 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, cubed and cold; 2 ripe mangos; 1/2 sweet onion, diced; 1/2 jalapeño chili, seeded and diced; 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced; 1/2 poblano chili, seeded and diced; 1/4 cup lime juice (roughly 2 limes); 1 bunch of cilantro; salt, to taste

Jump to Recipe

Barramundi is found throughout coastal areas of the Indo-West Pacific region. Always readily available in Southeast Asia and Australia, now fillets are easily found frozen in the U.S. and other parts of the world. It is considered a good option for widely overfished varieties and a good choice if you do not live within an hour of the sea. Barramundi Fillets with Mango is a perfect pairing, particularly when the Barramundi is prepared with a Meuniere preparation — as in the classic French Sole Meuniere. This produces a nice lemony butter sauce and the mango accompaniments are added on top.

Two serving options

I present here the method for preparing the fish and offer two options featuring mangos for an accompanying sauce: Mango Curd and Mango Lime Salsa. Both are excellent with the curd being a more polished approach and the salsa a fresh tangy “beachy” approach.

Short of Time?

Both the salsa and curd options require preparing ahead. If you don’t have time feel free to cook the Barramundi as discussed and just top with chopped Mango.

Mango Curd

I usually associate curd with lemon curd. And my mind associates this more likely more towards dessert. That was before I had a lovely small plate at Sur Mer located off Canal Saint-Martin in Paris. This plate had a lovely fillet of white fish, zucchini with a light peppery finish, and lemon curd. The curd was not as sweet as a dessert curd would be. The flavors balanced well giving a simple, but creative outstanding dish.

Based on this inspiration I have developed a recipe with Mango Curd. The Mango Curd is also, not as sweet so it pairs well with the fish — the additional fruit taste is great. Like my inspiration dish, it is pictured with some roasted Zephyr Squash prepared as presented in my Roast Zucchini or Squash recipe, but you can serve it with any side vegetable you like.

Mango Lime Salsa

I use my Mango Lime Salsa when I want a more casual perhaps summertime dish. This is a very fresh approach that uses sweet onions instead of red onions. I use a combination of different peppers and let it all rest for at least two hours to allow the flavors to meld.

Notes on Technique

Cooking the Barramundi Fillets

Regardless of which sauce you use for the Barramundi and mango, we will cook the fish the same way. Using the same technique as Sole Meuniere we finish with a nice lemon butter sauce.

There are two schools of thought on the preparation of Sole Meuniere. The first option, you can start with oil and butter to cook the fish, then add more butter to finish the sauce. Or in the second option, you can cook only in oil and add the butter for the sauce. In this recipe, I use the second option. Barramundi requires a bit more cooking than sole. Butter tends to burn with lower cooking. Therefore, I hold off the butter until the production of the butter sauce.

Salting

Barramundi is denser and stronger tasting than sole. The Barramundi fillets will need more salt than you would use on a fillet of sole, so it is worth mentioning the salting step. I suggest salting before dredging in flour as opposed to the common approach of adding salt to the flour.

Barramundi with Mango

Yield: 2 Servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Applying a classic technique with two Mango options