Asian Infused Tilapia with Baby Bok Choy

I can not begin to say enough good things about this recipe. It was amazing. It was delicate and yet flavorful. The fish literally became perfumed with the aromatics. And yet all the aromatics blended together perfectly, you really didn't specifically taste the cilantro, or the lemongrass, or the lime leaves. It was just this heavenly subtle flavor. I took pictures practically every step of the way, because this dish was beautiful every step of the way. And if your wondering why my chilis look a littly frosty, it's because I store them in a ziplock in the freezer, same with the lemongrass and the kaffir lime leaves. The chilis are some tabasco ones that I grew last year, and boy were they hot.

I used a Donna Hay recipe from The New Cook as inspiration. She used swordfish and had you wrap the cilantro stem around the swordfish. I used tilapia, less lemongrass, and just laid the cilantro sprigs on top. She also had you just sort of line your steamer basket with the paper and sit the fish on top, I made individual packets.

I made the individual fish packets out of parchment paper, sort of rolled them up like I was going to roast them in the oven. Then I was concerned that since I was steaming them, I wondered if they have to be opened up to expose the fish to the steam. So I cut out the center folded part, sort of making a parchment bowl.

Asian Infused Tilapia with Baby Bok Choy
serves 4

4 heads baby bok choy, halved
8 sprigs cilantro
8 kaffir lime leaves
2 stalks lemongrass (about bottom 4 inches), halved
4 red chilis (or to suit your taste)
black pepper
lime wedges

On 4 pieces of parchment paper (about 12x12 inches), place baby bok choy. Place tilapia on top the bok choy, and top each with 2 sprigs of cilantro, 2 lime leaves, one half stalk of lemongrass, and one chili pepper sliced. Fold up parchment paper as described above. Place packets in steamer basket. Place steamer basket over simmering water and steam for 6-8 minutes, until fish is cooked. Serve with jasmine rice, a generous sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper, and lime wedges.

Seriously wonderful and easy enough for a weeknight dinner!

This will be my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Margo from Coffee and Vanilla. And yes, I know it's cilantro, again, but hey, Kalyn used cilantro and tilapia this week also, and she's my hero.