Every Chinese family has its own style of preparing steamed fish. This recipe is simple but has a special technique that my dad came up with himself.
His “secret” is so simple that when I tell you, you’ll probably go, “What? That’s it?”
Pre-fry the aromatics (sliced ginger and chopped garlic) before adding them to the fish for steaming.
That’s it.
Why this simple hack works
From my observation, this technique is quite different from how most restaurants prepare steamed fish, where the ginger and garlic go in raw together with the fish.
This additional treatment of the garlic and ginger produces a gentle smokiness that intensifies the dish’s umami, and highlights the natural sweetness of the fish.
A little extra effort, huge payoff.
Another tip for good steamed fish
Don’t over-steam it! Nothing worse than leathery over-cooked fish, IMHO.
Steaming time will depend on the type of fish and the size. My instructions in the recipe below apply to a fish tail that’s roughly 250-300g in weight.
Fish that’s cooked just long enough will be delicate, tender and almost melt in the mouth.
Growing up, I ate steamed fish almost every other day
My parents always worry I cannot get quality fish in KL. So whenever they know I’m coming back to Ipoh, they would hightail it to the wet market several days before my arrival. And stuff the freezer full of fish so that their not-so-little girl can eat as much fish as she wants.
My dad is a man with simple pleasures, but he knows how to appreciate good fish. Although he’d baulk at paying RM10 for a hipster coffee, he has pretty atas taste when it comes to fish. As far as I can remember, he only buys only the more expensive species like garoupa or pomfret. I nearly fainted when he paid RM110 for a tau tai chong (Chinese pomfret) during Chinese New Year!
The Chinese highly prize tau tai chong because the flesh is firm yet tender. We consider it sacrilege to cook it in any other way except steaming. Why? Because this allows the natural characteristics of the fish to shine through, undisguised by heavy sauces.
We’re right smack in the middle of a Movement Control Order as I write this, so getting food supplies has been more challenging than usual. After many days of restriction, I rejoiced to finally secure some precious tau tai chong from our mobile fishmonger today. What else, cook steamed fish lah!
I can’t wait for this MCO to be over, so that our entire family can sit together and enjoy this delicious steamed fish at one table.
Here’s another fish dish that’s a family favourite in the Wong household, also invented by my dad 🙂
Chinese Steamed Fish
Equipment
- wok with lid, steaming plate, trivet
Ingredients
- 1 fish tail or 1 medium pomfret
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 inches fresh ginger root, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1.5-2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
Instructions
- Pre-fry the aromatics. Start by heating up oil in wok. When hot, add ginger, garlic and half the salt. (See Recipe Notes 1) Saute until aromatics start to brown. Remove from heat.
- Rub fish all over with the remainder of the salt. Fill up wok with enough water and bring to a boil. Place fish on trivet and cover with lid. Steam at medium heat for 5 minutes until the fish releases its own water. Remove from wok and discard this water.
- Now, scatter the pre-fried aromatics over the top of the fish. Then drizzle light soy sauce around the fish. This will create the gravy along with the natural juices of the fish and the steam.
- Return fish to the wok. Lower heat to medium, cover with lid and steam for an additional 5-8 minutes, depending on the size of your fish, until fish is just cooked.
- Serve with hot rice.
Notes
- Most fish dishes served in restaurants are cooked without pre-frying the aromatics. However, I find that my father's pre-frying technique intensifies the flavour greatly without needing to add lots of other seasonings.
- Instead of salt, you can also add other umami agents like mushroom powder or seafood stock powder to the aromatics before frying.
- When I'm using whole fish like tau tai chong, I also like to stuff the stomach with spring onions and slices of ginger to remove the fishiness.