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Marinated Croaker Collars With Citrus and Green Mango Salad

Photo of fish collars  on a platter with fresh herbs on top.
Photo by Angie Mosier

I love to cook with ingredients that might otherwise be discarded, like fish collars. If you’re tempted to treat them as scraps, please don’t throw them away or use them merely for a stock. They’re delicious as the main focus of a dish—think of them as the spareribs of the sea. Here, croaker collars are marinated in citrus, chipotle, ginger, and fish sauce, and served with a mango salad full of funk, spice, and crunch.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    2 to 3 hours

  • Yield

    Serves 4

Ingredients

2 limes
2 lemons
2 oranges
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped
1 (3-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon fish sauce
4 (6-ounce) croaker collars (or snapper or cobia fillets)
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 green mango, pitted, peeled, and julienned
1 ripe mango, pitted, peeled, and julienned
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dried shrimp, minced
1 bird's-eye chile, minced
½ cup peanuts, finely chopped
½ teaspoon chile powder
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
6 fresh mint leaves, chiffonade

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Juice 1 each of the limes, lemons, and oranges into a medium mixing bowl. Add the olive oil, chipotle pepper, ginger, 1 teaspoon of the cilantro, and the fish sauce. Whisk until well combined. Divide the marinade in half.

    Step 2

    Place half of the marinade in a large zip-top bag. Season the fish with ½ teaspoon of the salt and add to the marinade. Seal and move the fish around to evenly coat. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours.

    Step 3

    Segment the remaining lemon, lime, and orange and add to the marinade in the mixing bowl. Add the mangos and stir to combine.

    Step 4

    Heat the vegetable oil in a small sauté pan set over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the shallot, garlic, dried shrimp, chile, peanuts, chile powder, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallot is translucent and peanuts are browned slightly, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the mango and toss the salad to combine.

    Step 5

    Bring 1 inch of water in a large pot to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove the fish from the marinade and set in a steamer basket. Place the basket in the pot, cover, and steam until fish is cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.

    Step 6

    Garnish the fish with the coconut flakes, mint, and remaining 1 tablespoon of cilantro and serve with the mango salad.

Cover of The Rise featuring a photograph of Marcus Samuelsson
Excerpted from THE RISE by Marcus Samuelsson with Osayi Endolyn. Recipes with Yewande Komolafe and Tamie Cook. Copyright © 2020 by Marcus Samuelsson. Photographs by Angie Mosier. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.

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