Samoan Baked Fish in Coconut Cream (I’a Tao)

I’a tao, baked fish, is the gentle cousin of grilled fish in the Samoan kitchen. The fish is wrapped in banana leaves with coconut cream, onion, and tomato, then baked over the coals or in the oven so the flavors steam together. Banana leaves were the original parchment paper, keeping the fish moist and adding their own subtle, grassy fragrance.

What makes it great: baking the fish in coconut cream keeps it impossibly moist, while the sauce reduces into a light, sweet gravy that tastes of onion and the sea. Eating it straight from the leaf, the way it is served in the islands, makes even a simple weeknight fish dinner feel like a celebration.

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