Coconut Milk Poached Fish

A closeup shot of the coconut milk poached fish recipe, served in a dark green platter.

This one-pot Coconut Milk Poached Fish is as comforting as it is nourishing and delicious. Inspired by Southeast Asian flavours, this dish features tender, flaky white fish, gently cooked in a fragrant, aromatic coconut broth. Its stunning presentation makes it look like you’ve spent ages in the kitchen, when in fact this recipe is incredibly simple to make. Whether you’re after an easy midweek dinner or something a bit more special, this Coconut Milk Poached Fish is perfect for impressing without the stress.

Table of Contents

Ingredients for making coconut milk poached fish.

Ingredient Breakdown

  • Cod loins or fillets: A tender, flaky white fish that holds up well to poaching. You can swap with haddock or pollock, if you prefer.
  • Onion: Adds sweetness and depth to the broth.
  • Garlic cloves: Essential for that aromatic base, adding savoury depth to the dish.
  • Fresh ginger: Bright and warming, ginger works in harmony with the other aromatics to give the broth its unique flavour.
  • Red chilli: Optional, but it brings a gentle heat. Feel free to adjust the spice level to your preference.
  • Lemongrass stalks: Adds a citrusy zing to the broth, making it fragrant and fresh.
  • Vegetable or coconut oil: Used to sauté the aromatics; coconut oil will play up the coconut theme, but vegetable oil works, too.
  • Coconut milk: The heart of this recipe, creating a creamy, silky base for the broth.
  • Fish sauce: Brings umami and depth, balancing the richness of the coconut milk.
  • Stock cube: Adds an extra layer of savoury flavour to the broth. Use vegetable or chicken based on what you have.
  • Sugar: A pinch to balance the salty and savoury flavours of the broth.
  • Spring onion: Adds freshness and crunch as a garnish.
  • Fresh coriander: Its bright, herbaceous notes cut through the richness of the broth.
  • Chilli oil: Optional, but it adds a lovely hit of spice and richness to finish the dish.
An overhead shot of the coconut milk poached fish recipe, served in a dark green platter.

Why Poaching is Perfect for Cod

Cod is an ideal fish to poach. It’s firm enough to hold its shape when cooked, yet tender enough to flake easily, making it a dream for this method of cooking. The gentle heat of the poaching liquid ensures the fish stays moist and delicate without the risk of overcooking, which can often happen with higher heat methods like frying or grilling. Poaching also gives the fish time to soak up the subtle aromatics from the broth, making every bite of this Coconut Milk Poached Fish a flavourful one.

One tip to avoid the cod falling apart is to salt it in advance. Letting the cod sit with a light dusting of salt for 30 minutes in the fridge helps firm up the flesh. This simple trick makes a big difference and is particularly useful when poaching delicate fish like cod or haddock.

The Aromatic Base of this Coconut Milk Poached Fish

The aromatics are the unsung heroes of this Coconut Milk Poached Fish recipe. It all starts with gently cooking the onion, garlic, ginger, and chilli (if using) in oil. By softening them slowly, you coax out their flavours, creating a base that’s fragrant and rich. The key here is not to rush; you want the aromatics to soften and become golden without browning or burning. This will take about 10 minutes of gentle stirring.

Lemongrass is another essential aromatic that adds a bright, citrusy note to the broth. Bashing the stalks with the flat side of a knife helps release the oils before you finely slice it. Lemongrass is tough, so it benefits from this extra step to ensure its flavours are fully extracted into the broth.

Transforming Coconut Milk into a Flavour-Packed Broth

The coconut broth is the star of the show in this Coconut Milk Poached Fish recipe. Once the aromatics are softened, coconut milk, fish sauce, a stock cube, and a touch of sugar join the mix to create a rich and velvety liquid. The coconut milk adds a subtle sweetness and creaminess, while the fish sauce brings that hit of umami, lifting the entire dish.

Simmering the broth for 30 minutes allows the flavours to meld and intensify. You’ll notice the ginger, garlic, and lemongrass infuse the coconut milk, transforming it into a silky, fragrant broth that’s just the right balance of creamy, salty, and slightly sweet.

A closeup shot of the coconut milk poached fish recipe, served in a dark green platter.

Coconut Milk Poached Fish: Serving Suggestions

This Coconut Milk Poached Fish is all about the contrast between rich, fragrant broth and fresh, light garnishes. The spring onion and coriander bring brightness and a pop of colour to the dish, while the optional chilli oil adds a little heat and richness.

To make it a complete meal, I highly recommend serving the Coconut Milk Poached Fish over steamed jasmine rice. The rice soaks up the coconut broth beautifully, ensuring every bite is packed with flavour. A side of steamed greens like bok choy or tenderstem broccoli would complement the dish perfectly, adding some crunch and balancing the richness of the broth.

Consider adding a squeeze of lime just before serving. The acidity cuts through the creaminess of the coconut, bringing everything into balance. It’s one of those small finishing touches that can transform the dish from good to great.

Adapting this Coconut Milk Poached Fish Recipe

This Coconut Milk Poached Fish recipe is wonderfully versatile. You can swap cod for other firm, white fish such as haddock, hake, or pollock. Even salmon works beautifully here, adding its own richness to the broth.

If you’re in the mood for a bit more heat, increase the amount of red chilli or drizzle over extra chilli oil. For a milder version, omit the chilli altogether and rely on the aromatics to carry the flavours.

Want More Fish Recipes?

I’ve been sharing lots of delicious fish recipes on my Instagram and TikTok in a series I’ve called Fantastic Fish. If you love this recipe, why not try some of the others in the series?

  • Coconut-Crusted Thai Curry Sea Bass: If you’re a fan of Thai flavours, you’re going to love this one. The fish is marinated in Thai red curry paste, before being encased in a coconut crust and fried to golden perfection.
  • Salt and Pepper Fish Nuggets: Chicken nuggets are great, but have you ever had fish nuggets? They’re just as delicious and satisfying, but they feel lighter.
  • Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice: This recipe combines crispy sushi rice cakes with homemade spicy tuna and avocado. The contrast of textures between the crispy rice and tuna is delightful and all the flavours work so well together.
  • Monkfish Curry: Monkfish is simmered in a rich, flavour-packed sauce, perfumed with curry leaves, coconut milk, tomatoes and warm spices.
  • Roasted Salmon with Curry Leaf Butter: Roasted salmon, topped with a delicious 3-ingredient curry leaf butter.
Print

Coconut Milk Poached Fish

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 21 reviews

This one-pot Coconut Milk Poached Fish is as comforting as it is nourishing and delicious. Inspired by Southeast Asian flavours, this dish features tender, flaky white fish, gently cooked in a fragrant, aromatic coconut broth.

  • Author: zenak
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 cod loins or fillets (around 150g each), or any flaky white fish
  • 1 onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 15g fresh ginger, peeled
  • 1 red chilli (optional)
  • 2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layer removed
  • vegetable or coconut oil
  • 2 x 400g tin good-quality coconut milk (ideally, at least 70% coconut extract)
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 stock cube (vegetable or chicken)
  • 1 tsp sugar

To serve: 

  • 1 spring onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 small handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • drizzle of chilli oil (optional)
  • cooked rice and lime wedges

Instructions

  1. Season the cod fillets with salt on both sides, then refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will both season the cod and firm up its flesh, making it less likely to fall apart while poaching.
  2. You can use this time to prep the aromatics. First, thinly slice the onion, garlic, ginger and red chilli (if using). Second, using the flat side of a chef’s knife, bash the lemongrass stalks to release the aromatic oils, then slice very, very, very thinly (If you don’t slice the lemongrass very finely, it won’t break down in the sauce well and will be a pain to chew). Alternatively, if you don’t feel like chopping, you can blitz the aromatics in a food processor.
  3. Heat a tablespoon or two of vegetable or coconut oil in a medium saucepan set over a medium heat.
  4. Add the aromatics and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, around 10 minutes.
  5. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, stock cube and sugar, then season with salt and pepper and mix to combine.
  6. Bring the coconut broth to a simmer over medium-high heat, then cover, reduce the heat to low/medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.
  7. Add the cod fillets to the coconut broth, then cover and cook until the cod fillets are just cooked through, 5 to 8 minutes depending on their thickness. When done, the flesh will flake when gently pressed.
  8. To serve, carefully transfer the cod fillets to a shallow serving bowl, then ladle the broth over the top. Finish with the spring onion, fresh coriander and optional drizzle of chilli oil. I recommend serving this with rice (it soaks up all of that deliciously fragrant coconut broth), a side of steamed veg, and a few lime wedges for squeezing over.

Did you make this recipe?

Leave a comment below and share a photo on Instagram, tagging @zenaskitchen. I can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

108 Responses

  1. This is seriously delicious!! I thought the coconut flavor would be too overwhelming, but it pairs so well with the chicken stock and fish sauce – you only get a hint of the fattiness and sweetness. Cod was a perfect choice for this dish as well. Thank you so much for sharing, and I’ll definitely be back for more! 🫶💛

    1. Aw bless you! Thank you so much for your positive review. I’m so, so glad you enjoyed it!

    2. This is top-tier fish!
      I’ve made it 3 times and each time it seems to get better. It’s officially added to my biweekly rotation!

      Long live amazing fish!

  2. I just made this and it was delicious.
    I have just started the AIP diet and it is almost all compliant too. Only downside was this chilli lover couldn’t add chilli ( it’s not AIP friendly) but next time I will and I’m so excited to take the dish to that next level. Slightly too salty for me, but I may just have to adjust the stock next time. I served this over baked sweet potato, cauliflower and roasted kale. Sure, rice would have been better but honestly this was absolutely incredible. The fish was super flakey…. No photo because I was too excited to eat it haha. It will be on rotation this week. May even try it with salmon! Thank you for sharing this

    1. Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I actually love the sound of serving it over a baked sweet potato.

  3. This recipe was wonderful! Made for the perfect cozy but not overly heavy dinner. The broth was excellent and the fish turned out perfect. Can’t wait to make again!

  4. Omg saw this recipe this morning on instagram, drove to the store and made it for dinner. The aromatics are absolutely tantalizing and the final result was ahhhmazing. It tasted just like a restaurant! I will be making this again.

    1. Aww bless you! Your comment has put the biggest smile on my face. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  5. We made it per the recipe, and it was very good. We subbed some shrimp paste for the fish sauce, because we had it on hand. We would add more garlic, but we always like more garlic! Yummy!

  6. I had to make this after I saw the recipe. I tweaked it a little bit, and added some chicken stock, chili powder, fresh cilantro and dill. It came out better than I expected and I definitely will be making again. Everyone had a serving before I could snap the picture.

  7. I don’t have fish, pepper, coriander or block ststock. But everything else! Excited to try this. I love theses flavors.

  8. I loved this so much, I made it two nights in a row!!! My son is 8, and I’m constantly looking for new things to try, and he will try anything. He loved this so much, he went back for seconds! This is officially my favorite and only acceptable way to make cod! It’s gut healthy, and contains so many of the ingredients I LOVE to cook! Absolutely delicious!

  9. I made this for lunch today. Quick enough to do on a work from home lunch break (pushing the limits but it’s possible!) and felt like restaurant quality results my BF and roommate raved about.
    Add the pepper and chili oil, (and don’t forget the lime at the end) it really does make the dish sing and the end result is still not all that spicy!

  10. This recipe is super easy to follow and wonderfully delicious! I served over rice as suggested and topped with cilantro, green onion, and crunchy chili oil – my family was delighted. 10 out of 10.

  11. My partner and I drove to the store just to get ginger for this recipe. Fantastical is what I usually say about delicious dishes.

  12. I made this tonight..it was delicious!!
    I used date syrup instead of sugar, for anyone doing sugar free.

  13. This is the best blog recipe I have ever ever made. Truly incredible! I ate with white rice and a raw cabbage salad. It was AMAZING. Adding this to the monthly recipes!!! Thank you for this deliciousness.

  14. Incredible! Hosted a dinner party and the dish went down an absolute treat! Thanks Zena. Much appreciated.

  15. Insanely delicious and surprisingly easy!!! This is going in my normal rotation — too yummy to not!! I seriously want to drink this broth every day.

  16. The fish and the broth were delicious. But the broth was not white it was more Brown and I think that was because of the stock cube. Should I have done something differently?

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed the flavours! As for the colour, it could in fact be due to the stock cube (I used a homemade one that was quite light in colour). If could also be from the sautéed aromatics, if you developed any colour there. If you’d prefer to keep it lighter in colour in the future, might I suggest using chicken stock powder instead of a stock cube? I get mine from the Chinese supermarket near me and it makes a much lighter (in colour) stock than standard stock cubes.

  17. Holy deliciousness! A reel of your beautiful self and this recipe recently crossed my feed and I started drooling bahaha. To die for. I used tilapia as my fish and it turned out perfectly. Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow.

  18. I saw this on TikTok and had to make it. I said mmmmm after every single bite. Soooo good, will definitely be making it again






  19. Couldn’t get cod, which I was really looking forward to, so I used barramundi and it was amazing. Thank you for sharing ☆






  20. This is best recipe I ever made! All the aromatic ingredients Zena puts in this dish go so amazingly well together, and the ingredients you get to garnish it with at the end put the cherry on top of this recipe. If you want to impress your friends with a symphony of flavors that will leave them talking for hours about your dish, then make this recipe! You won’t be sorry! 🤗

  21. This was absolutely incredible!! My husband gave it 5 stars, and i agree. I added Japanese spinach to the broth which was perfect and added a little bit of extra veggie!






  22. I made this tonight- used barramundi instead (aus) and it worked out perfectly. I did add mussels too! My housemates and I loved it! Thank you!

  23. This dish was sooooo delicious very light yet flavorful which I was looking for, it didn’t feel too heavy to digest and I felt like I wanted more but had enough just perfect!!!






  24. Made this tonight and it was AMAZING. Literally had me licking the bowl. I made a few minor adjustments just because of the ingredients I had on hand: used the oil from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes to cook the onions, added some spinach and celery, and put a little curry powder on the cod before adding it to the broth. This is such a wonderful base recipe for adding in veggies to clear out my fridge, lol. Thank you Zena!!






  25. This was so delicious!! Super easy to make and the payoff was fantastic. Wish we had chilis on hand but looking forward to making it with some heat next time! Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe – looking forward to trying more fish recipes from you! ☺️






  26. Thank you for sharing 🙂 beautiful recipe I will definitely make this often. Easy but very flavourful. I expected fish to maybe be bland because aromatics only poured over it but it’s perfectly balanced and no extra steps like seasoning the fish required!

    Hopefully first of many of your recipes I get to try!! Keep it up

  27. I have made the Coconut Milk Poached Fish
    Delicious! Delicious!
    With black rice maybe even more colorful. I got a lot of compliments.
    I kept the honor a bit to myself. Sorry 🙂 😂🫣😇

    Note;
    I wouldn’t cut the lemongrass into small pieces. That prevents a lot of hassle fishing those small pieces out of your mouth every bite. Lemongrass in three gagged pieces is really enough!

    1. Yes, unsweetened coconut milk 🙂 Apologies for not mentioning this in the recipe – in the UK, all coconut milk is unsweetened by default.

  28. This was such a delicious recipe. Thank you so much! It is definitely restaurant quality. My family loves it and it was so easy to make. ❤️






  29. Loved it so much after trying the recipe the first time, I made it for my grandmother last week. This is going in the rotation!






  30. 3rd time making this! So easy and delish! It’s just me so I make the recipe at least a quarter and use 1 filet and it’s perfect

  31. Im making this for dinner tonight and using Mahi mahi. One question, my store didn’t have fresh lemongrass. I bought the already ground fresh lemongrass in a squeeze tube like garlic sometimes comes. How much would you use? I’m thinking a couple tablespoons? I just dont want to over do it. Thanks so much. I’m going to give it a 5 star because it just sounds delicious lol.






  32. How would you reheat this if you had leftover? / what is the best way to store it? Thank you so much!

    1. So I actually wouldn’t recommend reheating it as the fish will be way overcooked, but if I had to, I’d store it in the broth and reheat both in a pan over a medium-low heat until just simmering to minimise overcooking as much as possible 🙂

  33. This was so good!! I was able to make it vegan/vegetarian for my husband by just switching out chicken stock for vegetable stock. And then once it came time to poach the fish I poured out his portion over tofu and then I added the fish for me.

    We both loved it and thought it was very comforting and tasty 🙂






  34. SO, SO, SO GOOD. You’ll like this even if you don’t like coconut! The flavor is umami and acidic, especially with the finish of the lime.






  35. Absolutely incredible recipe . Best way to start eating more fish . This is a restaurant quality dish






  36. Truly amazing!!! Each ingredient complimented each other SO well! The lime and coriander really topped it all off. I used branzino instead of cod and it was a perfect substitute!! Served it over asparagus.






  37. This is absolutely amazing! You would want to lick 👅 your plate. Tried with cod and with shrimp both turned out amazing. Easy and delicious!






  38. I feel compelled to write a review because this is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. I made it to have guests over for dinner and everyone was raving about it. So flavorful, creamy, and just delicious. I think the key is definitely a good quality coconut milk. I used aroy-D brand as in the instructions and it was extra creamy, unlike other more watery coconut milks I have used in the past. Make this recipe to impress guests or even just yourself!






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Hello!

Hi! I’m Zena. A recipe developer with a love for big, bold flavours and vibrant, colourful dishes. Expect lots of easy, delicious recipes, influenced by global flavours and techniques. Happy cooking!

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