Ota salad with seafood and coconut 'miti' sauce

Tam West

During a holiday in Fiji I ate this salad made with ota, or river fern, which is sold at the Sigatoka market (and other markets all over Fiji) where local produce is found in abundance. I have substituted with baby spinach. Mix up the seafood here — you can use fish fillets, prawns, mussels, octopus or crayfish.

For the coconut 'miti' sauce

1 cup	Coconut milk
½	White onions, finely chopped, or use red onion or spring onion
1	Red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1	Lime, juice only
½	Red capsicums, finely diced, optional

For the salad

8 handfuls	Baby spinach, washed (Main)
1 punnet	Cherry tomatoes, halved horizontally
½ small	Telegraph cucumbers, diced
4	Spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

For the seafood

4 fillets	White fish, firm, skin on and boned (Main)
1 dash	Olive oil, for rubbing
12	Raw prawn cutlets (Main)

Directions

1. Make the coconut "miti" sauce. Place the coconut milk, onion, chilli, lime juice and capsicum, if using, in a bowl and season with a little salt. Cover and place in the fridge to chill.
2. Make the salad. Wilt the spinach in a large frying pan with just the water that is clinging to its leaves. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool. Squeeze to remove any excess water if necessary.
3. Place the spinach in a bowl with the cherry tomatoes, cucumber and spring onions. Season and mix to combine, then cover and place in the fridge to chill.
4. Cook the seafood. Heat a barbecue plate and grill until medium-hot. Rub a little oil over the grill to prevent sticking. Make 2-3 diagonal cuts through the skin and just into the flesh of the fish fillets and rub the skin with olive oil. Place the fish on the hot plate, skin-side-down and barbecue until the skin is crisp. Turn over and quickly barbecue the flesh side. The flesh should just begin to fall apart, but do not overcook it. Halfway through barbecuing, place the prawns on the grill and grill until they turn pink. Season fish and prawns.
5. To serve, place the salad on a serving platter, spoon over enough sauce to moisten and top with the prawns and fish. Place any remaining sauce in a small serving bowl.

More Fijian recipes from Kathy

• Coconut basil pesto
• River prawns with raw tropical salad
• Curried pumpkin