Kaffir Lime is an aromatic found most often in Thai cooking.  The intense lime fragrance comes from the leaves or zest of the kaffir lime,but the juice of the fruit is astringent and unpalatable.

If you’ve ever had tom yum soup, you’ve probably seen these hourglass-shaped leaves in it.  It’s like coming across a bay leaf; you’re not supposed to eat it.   But these leaves are edible if you remove the center stem and thinly slice or mince them.  You can find them at Asian markets, often frozen.  The plants are widely available at nurseries in Florida and they’re easy to grow.

Kaffir lime is good with all tropical fruit, but I think pineapple complements it perfectly.   With a little hot chili, on top of grilled grouper, this wakes up all your taste buds.

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Grilled Fish with Pineapple and Kaffir Lime

Ingredients:

• 2 fillets grouper or other firm white fish
• 1 cup diced pineapple
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut or grape seed oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon sliced green onions
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced kaffir lime leaves (3-4 leaves, stems removed)
• 1 bird’s eye chili, sliced
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Whisk the sugar, lime juice and pinch of salt.  Add the lime leaves and chili pepper.  Pour over the pineapple. Cover and refrigerate a few hours or overnight.

Heat the grill over medium high.

Pat the fish dry.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Brush each side with oil, about a teaspoon per fillet.  Reserve the rest of the oil in a small dish.

To season the grill so the fish doesn’t stick:  Fold a paper towel into a square.  Using tongs, dip the paper towel in the dish of reserved oil.  Brush the oil over the grates of the grill.  Repeat a few times over the same area.

Grill the fish until it begins to turn white on the edges, 3-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet.  Turn the fish and cook another couple minutes until it’s just cooked through.

Top the fish with the pineapple-kaffir lime mixture and add a sprinkle of green onions.