Fried Fish with Coconut Dipping Sauce (Ika Falai)

Ika falai — fried fish — is what Tongans eat when the catch comes in and the family wants dinner on the table fast. Fillets are dusted in flour and fried until golden, then dipped into a sauce of coconut cream, lime, and a little chili. It is beach food, market food, and home food all at once, sold in paper parcels at seaside stalls and cooked in every kitchen.

What makes it great: a shatteringly crisp crust over flaky, sweet fish, with a cool creamy dip that cuts right through the crunch. The chili-lime coconut sauce is the kind of thing you will want to bottle. Simple, fast, and utterly satisfying.

Tonga recipes →