My Version of Kokoda

After all that waiting, I still was not able to find Mahi-mahi.  The fish market told me they were getting it for me, but low and behold, it was not there when I popped in on Thursday.  The nice gentleman who was working the counter suggested tilapia.  Perfect, until he told me it was previously frozen.  So I bought a small skinless haddock filet and a half dozen shrimp.  

Back at home, I chopped the seafood into small chunks and placed it in Tupperware with the juice of two limes.  On Friday, I drained the juice and opened up a can of "cream of coconut".  The recipe I used called for "coconut cream" so I assumed these were the same thing.  But when I opened the can, what I thought would be a silky liquid was a congealed jelly (I did some research and confirmed that this was the correct consistency).  It looked unappetizing and smelled like suntan lotion, so I decided to use only a tablespoon or two of the coconut.  I mixed in diced onion and hot pepper, and then sprinkled minced tomatoes and red pepper on top.

At this point, my confidence was low.  This was one of the easiest recipes I've ever made - it didn't require any cooking!  But at the same time, I was completely outside of my comfort zone with the technique and ingredients.

But then I took a bite.  For a brief (very brief) moment I closed my eyes and thought I was in the tropics.  There is just something about that combination of fresh fish, spicy pepper, lime and coconut.  If I had a bag of tortilla chips I would have eaten the whole bowl like salsa.

I think I will wait until the hot summer months to make this again, but I definitely will. We scored Fiji 3.75.