Thai green sea bass with galangal, lemon grass and coconut

To begin, make the Thai paste. Grind the spices in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar. Add to a food processor with the galangal, ginger, garlic, shallots, lemon grass (reserving the outer layers), chillies, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Blitz to a rough paste

Add the chopped coriander stalks and coconut milk to the paste with the salt and blitz again until all the ingredients are combined. At this stage taste the paste, it will taste dramatically hotter before baking so if you want to add more chillies, do so at this stage. The paste will last for a week in the fridge or a month in the freezer

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6

Lay the sea bass in a deep roasting tin large enough for it to comfortably fit in. Make a few slashes in both sides of the body and cover with enough paste, inside and out, so that it is well-coated. If you have any lime leaves, stuff them in the cavity of the sea bass, with the outer lemon grass layers and a few slices of lime

Mix the rest of the paste with the water or stock and pour into the roasting tin. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a thin metal skewer can slide easily all the way into the thickest part of the fish

Scatter with chopped coriander leaves and serve with lime wedges, coconut rice or some steamed pak choi laced with 1 tbsp sesame oil