Rockfish Paksiw
Banana Leaf-Wrapped Rockfish, Paksiw Sauce, and Coconut Flakes
Chef Julie Cortes of Kaliwa | Washington, D.C.
When modernizing recipes from her childhood, Chef de Cuisine Julie Cortes wants to make her grandmother proud. This is especially true for her grandmother’s favorite dish, paksiw na isda, where, traditionally, fish is gently simmered in vinegar. “It’s my grandmother’s recipe but I’m going to make my own twist,” says Cortes. So rather than simmering her fresh Chesapeake Bay rockfish, Cortes seasons the fish with ginger, garlic, and salt, wraps it in banana leaves, and grills it on Kaliwa’s open hearth grill—subtle twists meant to prevent mushiness and oversaturation. To honor the vinegar element of the dish, Cortes simmers a punchy sauce of fish stock, fish sauce, vinegar, coconut milk, and lots of aromatics. The rockfish, served inside the scorched banana leaf, is smothered with the creamy paksiw sauce and finished with a sprinkle of coconut flakes. Streamlined for busy dinner service, Cortes’s dish has all of the acidity, unctuousness, and familiarity of her grandmother’s paksiw na isda.
Adapted by StarChefs | March 2022
INGREDIENTS:
Rockfish:
Yield: 2 servings
150 grams rockfish, cut into fillets
Salt
Banana leaves
Paksiw Sauce:
Yield: 1 pint
Canola oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small shallot, sliced
10 grams sliced ginger
½ cup black vinegar
1 ½ cup fish stock
1 teaspoon fish sauce
½ cup coconut milk
¼ cup palm sugar
Salt
Black pepper
To Assemble and Serve:
Coconut flakes
METHOD:
For the Rockfish:
Season rockfish with salt. Place 1 fillet of rockfish in the middle of a banana leaf piece and wrap it, then fold each end to enclose the fish. Grill it skin-side down about 10 to 15 minutes until the fish is done.
For the Paksiw Sauce:
In a pan over medium flame, heat canola oil. Add garlic, shallot, and ginger and sauté. Add black vinegar and fish stock. Bring to a boil and simmer until the vinegar is not strong to taste. Put remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and then strain through a chinois. Set aside.
To Assemble and Serve:
Add Paksiw Sauce to a sauce pourer and add a sprinkle of coconut flakes. Place the banana-leaf-wrapped Rockfish on a serving plate and partially unwrap so you can see the fish. Pour Paksiw Sauce over the Rockfish tableside until the Rockfish is completely coated in Paksiw Sauce.
