Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Reef Fish with Breadfruit
Reef fish gently poached in coconut cream with ginger and lime, served over roasted breadfruit, the everyday midday plate of the Pohnpei coast.
Micronesian · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 25 min
~810 cal · 44g protein · 50g carbs · 51g fat · 10g fiber · 22g sugars · 39g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Across the scattered islands of the Federated States of Micronesia, lunch comes off the reef and out of the ground within sight of each other. A fisher brings in whatever the morning tide offered, snapper, parrotfish, or emperor, while , the great starchy tree that feeds the Pacific, roasts whole in the coals until its skin blackens and the flesh inside turns soft and bread-like.
The fish is barely cooked at all: laid in a pan of fresh pressed from a grated nut, scented with ginger and lime, and simmered just until the flesh turns opaque. Coconut is the seasoning, the fat, and the sauce all at once, as it is in nearly every Micronesian kitchen, where a cow is a rarity and the palm is everything.
Eaten with fingers from a shared platter, the roasted torn to scoop up the pale sauce, this is food that has changed little in a thousand years of island life, quietly nourishing and tied entirely to what the sea and the trees give that day.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1.5 lb reef fish fillets (snapper or similar)
2 cups thick
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 thumb fresh ginger, sliced
to taste salt
1 lime, juiced
3 green onions, sliced
1 medium (or 4 roots)
Instructions
1
Roast the whole breadfruit over coals or in a hot oven, turning, until the skin chars and a knife slides easily into the center, about 45 minutes. Peel, seed, and cut into thick wedges.
✎ Chef’s note
If you cannot find breadfruit, taro or even a firm baking potato roasted the same way stands in honestly.
2
Warm the coconut cream in a wide pan with the garlic and ginger over low heat, letting them steep a few minutes without boiling.
3
Season the fish with salt, slip it into the cream, and spoon the cream over the top.
4
Simmer gently until the flesh flakes at the thickest part, 8 to 12 minutes; keep it below a boil so the coconut cream stays smooth rather than splitting.
✎ Chef’s note
Coconut cream turns oily and grainy if it boils hard, so hold it at the barest simmer.
5
Finish with lime juice and green onions and serve over the roasted breadfruit, sauce poured across both.
Pohnpei home cooking.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Palikir. Palikir is the Pohnpei capital of Micronesia, prized for coconut crab and for the giant yams grown for feasts and status. Breadfruit, taro, reef fish, and pounded sakau shape both the everyday meal and the ceremonial one.
🗺️
Micronesia. The Federated States of Micronesia cook close to the reef, fresh fish, taro, breadfruit, and coconut, often in an earth oven. Island root crops and the surrounding Pacific define the table.
🌍
Oceania. The staple crops here were carried on purpose. Lapita voyagers moving east from roughly three thousand years ago brought taro, yam, banana, breadfruit and coconut with them along with pigs and chickens, because most of the islands they settled had almost nothing edible growing on them. The earth oven travelled too, as umu, imu, hangi, lovo, mumu, motu and um.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Micronesia
Coconut Crab with TaroPrized coconut crab simmered in its own fat with coconut cream, served with steamed taro.
Grilled Reef Fish with RiceWhole reef fish grilled over coconut husks with lime and served over hot rice, a savory, protein-rich Micronesian morning plate.
Uht Sukusuk (Pounded Banana with Coconut Cream)A Pohnpeian sweet of ripe bananas boiled and pounded to a smooth, sticky mass, crowned with a pour of fresh coconut cream.
Browse all Micronesia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a Micronesia meal
SakauDrink
Uht Sukusuk (Pounded Banana with Coconut Cream)Dessert
Kon (Chuukese Pounded Breadfruit)Dinner
Similar dishes from around the world
Poisson BraiséGabon
MasgoufIraq
Ikan SabukoTimor-Leste
MufeteAngola
Attiéké PoissonCôte d’Ivoire
Peixe GrelhadoSão Tomé and Príncipe
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Reef Fish with Breadfruit?
Reef fish gently poached in coconut cream with ginger and lime, served over roasted breadfruit, the everyday midday plate of the Pohnpei coast.
Where does Reef Fish with Breadfruit come from?
Reef Fish with Breadfruit is a Micronesian dish from Palikir, Micronesia.
Can Reef Fish with Breadfruit be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Reef Fish with Breadfruit recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Reef Fish with Breadfruit safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Reef Fish with Breadfruit take to make?
About 40 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.