Chinese Steamed Fish

one of my top three favorite whole fish recipes that utilizes such an underrated technique

With the holiday season in full swing, the number one question I get asked is what my top hosting tip is.

And for me, there’s two parts to this question: one in the context of hosting itself and the other about the type of food to prepare.

The former is a quick and easy answer, which is to be as present as possible with your guests.. and so naturally, the latter takes on that philosophy and epitomizes dishes that are high yield but low lift.

This is one of them.

If you’re a seasoned host and you’ve never made a whole fish before, I’m so excited for you.

Once you see the reaction you get from your friends and family from serving a whole fish (having not broken a sweat), you’re never going to go back.

You’re going to start with a “cleaned and gutted” fish, which just means your fish has been scaled with the guts removed.

All you have say to the fish person when ordering is, “can I please have a whole [insert fish] cleaned and gutted?”

This will the starting point for 90% of whole fish recipes you will ever tackle.

Chinese Steamed Fish:

In Chinese tradition, a whole steamed fish is an integral part of the table spread for significant moments in culture: family reunions, weddings, Chinese New Year, etc.

The word for fish in Chinese is pronounced the same as the word for abundance, representing all things health, wealth, and prosperity.

It’s a classic Chinese dish that relies on a few, high-quality ingredients and patience to really bring out the flavors.

INGREDIENTS - STEAMED FISH:

• 1 medium whole fish (1 1/2 lbs) (striped bass, black bass, sea bass, or branzino)

• 1-2 knobs of ginger, sliced

• 3 scallions, quartered then sliced into thin strips

• 1/2 cup shoaxing wine

• 1/4 cup sweet soy sauce

• optional: hot chili oil or chili crunch

• garnish: ginger (julienned) and scallions (sliced into thin strips)

INGREDIENTS - HOT CHILI OIL:

• 1/2 cup Szechuan peppercorns

• 1/2 cup dried Chinese chili peppers

• 3 cups neutral oil (vegetable, canola, avocado oil)

To start, divide the sliced ginger and strips of scallion into three.

We’re going to place the scallion and ginger on the bottom of a heat-safe ceramic plate, then the fish on top stuffed with scallion and ginger, and then more scallion and ginger on top.

If you don’t have a steamer setup with a wok and a steaming rack, set up a makeshift steamer like the one below, using a wide, medium-shallow pan and an elevated, heat-proof object like a mini cake pan:

Place your plate of fish on top and carefully cover the pot with hot water until the water comes a few inches below the plate (you don’t want to overfill and risk splashing your fish with the boiling water, and you also don’t want to underfill and risk scorching your pan from the water evaporating).

Cover your steamer and gently boil over medium, medium-low heat for about 15-20 minutes (gentle heat is important to retain tenderness and moisture throughout the cooking time).

Take a little piece when finished and check to see if the meat pulls away from the bone easily and glistens white. Once you see that, it’s finished.

Carefully remove the ginger and scallions on top and replace with your fresh ginger and scallions to garnish.

Optionally, to make the hot chili oil, place everything in a pot together and bring the oil to a simmer. Once simmered, remove and let sit for 30 seconds.

Top the fish with a little hot chili oil to semi-fry the garnishes and shock the fish a bit.

Then finally, drizzle over your sweet soy sauce and enjoy. :)