Looking for a new way to cook fish? This easy poached fish recipe takes you to the islands. Spicy Caribbean Mahi Mahi is a healthy fish dinner that’s ready in under an hour.
My grandparents are from the islands. Martinique. A little French island in the Lesser Antilles. Our family dinners are largely influenced by the regional fare from that little outpost plopped in the middle of an azure blue sea.
Spicy Caribbean Mahi-Mahi is a prime example of that. This dish is a standard in our house — like mac and cheese or chicken fingers for most families.
Actually, that’s not even what we call it. In our family this dish is referred to as Court Bouillon (Pronounced cooh-booh-yahn). If you look up “Court Bouillon” online or in cookbooks, you’ll find recipes for a poaching liquid infused with wine, herbs and aromatics for gently cooking fish, shellfish and other proteins.
I guess the translation makes sense, this is a poached fish recipe, but with the spicy tomato broth it eats like a meal. I’ve been making it since I was about 20 and maybe I’m biased, but it’s my favorite way to make MahiMahi, or any fish. I’ve made it with snapper, cod — even Walleye!
And it couldn’t be simpler. Start by very gently sweating the shallots, green onions and garlic until they are practically translucent. Then add some good quality tomato sauce and thin it out with a bit of water. Red pepper flakes add heat — though my grandfather would make his own scotch bonnet pepper sauce to add to the simmering liquid. You can add a few bay leaves while the sauce simmers too.
Then it’s time to add the fish. Gently place the mahi (or whatever fish you’re using) in the broth, cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and poach for 5-6 minutes until it’s about halfway cooked. Gently turn the fish and continue the spicy tomato bath!
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkle of parsley right before serving will add a bright pop of flavor. Serve this over sticky white rice – not the Uncle Ben’s converted rice – you want a starchier variety that will soak up the goodness.
We like this with a cool cucumber salad and a hot crust of french bread. Don’t forget the wine. It goes equally well with a red or white — I know that from experience.
More tasty fish dinners you’ll love:
- Crunchy Salmon Cakes
- Ridiculously Simple Grilled Swordfish Steaks with Castelvetrano Olive Relish
- How To Make Easy Pan Seared Glazed Salmon
- Crispy Baked Fish Tacos
- Caribbean Grilled Yellowtail Snapper Recipe with Easy Aioli
- Hogfish Adriatic Hails From Islamorada
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Spicy Caribbean Mahi Mahi
Ingredients
- 1 pound mahi mahi fillets cut into four portions
- 5-6 green scallions thinly sliced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 3 shallots thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 8- oz can good quality tomato sauce
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes depending on how spicy you like it
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2-3 grinds of black pepper
- ¾ cup water divided
- juice of half a lemon
- chopped parsley for garnish
Serve with
- 2 cups cooked long grain white rice – you want the rice to be sticky — NOT converted rice.
Instructions
- In a 9″ or 10″ skillet with a lid add the olive oil and heat over medium low heat. Add the scallions, garlic and shallots and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are soft and translucent, about 10-15 minutes. (Don’t crank up the heat – you don’t want these vegetables to brown).
- Add the tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup water. Stir to combine and continue cooking, uncovered until sauce has thickened somewhat, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup water and place the fish fillets in the poaching liquid. Put the lid on securely and poach the fish on low to medium low heat for about 8 minutes. Using tongs or a spatula, flip the fish over and continue to poach an additional 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat. Squeeze lemon juice over the fish and chopped parsley. Serve on top of sticky white rice. A cool cucumber salad is really good with this to take the heat off.
Notes
Nutrition
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absolutely floored by how good this recipe is!!! i added in turmeric and subbed red pepper flakes for cayenne powder to make it reaaally spicy. fantastic, can’t wait to make it again!!!
We add cumin and turmeric and love this dish!
I made this for my family 2 nights ago. My son just informed me that this was “one of the 3 best meals I’ve ever had in my life.” He’s 19 and has eaten in 8 different countries.
I’m so happy that your son enjoyed the mahi mahi! It’s a recipe that’s been in my family for years!
What an excellent recipe! Always trying to incorporate more tomato in my fish dishes, (sometimes even frozen Mah-Mahi fillets-usually all that is available here in Nova Scotia). C’mon Climate Change! LOL. This would be great for Haddock and Cod, Halibut, even Swordfish (all readily available) and even Basa filets from Vietnam (very good freshwater farmed fish-I think banned from the US to protect your Tilapia and Catfish farmers). I would hesitate with with farmed Salmon. Again thank you!
I have been known to use this recipe with lots of different fish — including Wahoo, Snapper — and when visiting my husband’s family in Minnesota — Walleye. It’s very versatile!