Ika i te Lolo (Tokelauan Fish Simmered in Coconut Cream)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 12-inch covered saute pan or shallow Dutch oven
• •Fine grater or coconut scraper if squeezing fresh coconut cream
• •Clean kitchen towel or nut-milk bag for pressing lolo

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the fish

   Pat the fish dry and season it with the sea salt. Let it sit while you slice the onion, just ten minutes, enough for the salt to wake the flesh up. Fresh fish should smell like the sea and almost nothing else. If it smells tired, no make excuses for it; cook it harder in another dish.

2. 2

   Start the lolo

   Set a wide, heavy pan over medium-low heat and add the coconut cream, onion, garlic if using, and chile if using. Stir gently until the cream loosens and the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Keep it below a hard boil. Coconut cream can split when you bully it, and this dish wants a gentle hand.

   Fresh lolo is best squeezed from grated mature coconut close to cooking time. A thick can is fine on a weeknight; shake it hard or stir it smooth before it goes in.
3. 3

   Lay in the ika

   Nestle the fish pieces into the coconut cream in one layer. Spoon a little sauce over the top, cover the pan, and keep the heat low so the surface barely trembles. The fish should poach, not thrash around in bubbles. That is how it stays whole.

4. 4

   Simmer until tender

   Cook for 10 to 14 minutes, depending on thickness, until the fish turns opaque and flakes when pressed with a spoon. If the sauce gets too thick before the fish is done, add a splash of water. If it looks thin, uncover for the last few minutes and let it tighten until it coats the spoon with a glossy white sheen.

5. 5

   Taste and rest

   Turn off the heat and let the pan sit 3 minutes. Taste the sauce and correct the salt. Pull out the chile if you only wanted its warmth. The onion should be soft, the lolo rich, and the fish loose enough to flake apart but still sitting in proud pieces.

6. 6

   Serve the table

   Spoon the fish and coconut sauce over cooked pulaka if you can get it, or taro, breadfruit, or rice if that's what you have. Scatter green onion only if you like. This is comfort food, not a showpiece. Put the pan down family-style and let the sauce find everybody's plate.

Chef Tips

• •Ask when the fish came out of the water. That matters more than the species. Snapper, grouper, sea bass, cod, or any firm clean white fish will do the work.
• •Do not hard-boil coconut cream. Low heat keeps the sauce smooth and lets the fish stay tender. If it splits a little, no panic; stir gently and serve it anyway.
• •Pulaka is the Tokelauan anchor here, but most of us outside the atolls won't find it. Taro, breadfruit, green banana, or rice can carry the sauce. Eat what you have.
• •Corned beef and rice off the barge are part of the modern truth in Tokelau and Tuvalu, not something to sneer at. Still, when fish, coconut, and pulaka feed the island from its own place, that is repair you can taste.

Advance Preparation

• •Slice the onion and portion the fish up to 8 hours ahead, then keep the fish cold and covered until cooking.
• •Squeeze fresh coconut cream the same day you cook. It separates and can sour if it sits too long.
• •This dish is best served just cooked, but leftovers keep 1 day refrigerated. Warm gently over low heat so the fish doesn't toughen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)