Chinese steamed fish
Recreate this Chinese inspired Chinese steamed fish with ginger and spring onions at home. It's quick, simple and very delicious
Ingredients
For steaming
- 1 kg whole snapper (or 2 x 500gm - 2 x 1.1lb) (NOTE 1)
- salt for seasoning
- ¼ cup water
- 4 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine (NOTE 2)
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced ginger (or 40gm-1.4oz, peeled)
For the sauce
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce (NOTE 3)
- 2 tsp sesame oil (NOTE 4)
- 1 tsp sugar
For the topping
- 1 cup thinly sliced spring onions (green onions, scallions)
- 1 large red chilli (sliced thinly)
- ⅓ cup peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
Instructions
- Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Use a sharp knife and slash the fish to the bone diagonally 3 to 4 times on both sides of the fish. Lightly sprinkle salt all over the fish.
- Fill in a large saucepan or wok (with a steamer attachment) with water approximately 1/3 full. Place the saucepan (without the steamer attachment) over high heat and bring the water to a rapid boil.
- Place the fish on a plate large enough to hold the fish, but make sure that it will fit into your steamer. Transfer the plate and fish onto the steamer attachment and pour water and wine over the fish, then place half of the ginger on top. Attach the steamer onto the saucepan and cover. Steam for 8 to 10 minutes or until the flesh of the fish is white.
- Whilst the fish is steaming, mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves.
- Remove the plate and fish from the steamer. Using a large flat spatula, lift the fish carefully onto a large serving plate. Spoon 2 or 3 tablespoons of the steamed wine and water mixture over the fish and pour the sauce on top. Then place the remaining ginger, spring onions and chilli over the fish.
- Heat the oil over high heat in a small saucepan or frypan until very hot, then pour the oil on top of the fish. Serve immediately with steamed veggies and rice.
Notes
(NOTE 1) Whole fish - Use firm white fish such as snapper, bream, barramundi, or perch. Your fishmonger should be happy to gut, scale and clean the fish for you. If you have a large enough steamer, you could get an entire fish that weighs approximately 1kg (2.2lb). If not, purchase 2 fish weighing around 500gms each (1.1lb)
(NOTE 2) Shaoxing cooking wine is a Chinese cooking wine, sometimes known as Shao Xing or Shao Hsing. It comprises water, rice, wheat, salt and alcohol. Bottles of shaoxing wine are cheap to buy from Asian specialty stores and some supermarkets stock them too. Mirin or Dry sherry are good substitutes for Shaoxing cooking wine.
(NOTE 3) Light soy sauce or regular soy sauce but avoid the dark or sweet soy sauce varieties, as these are not interchangeable.
(NOTE 4) Sesame oil is very aromatic with a roasted nutty flavour and aroma. They usually stock sesame oil in the oil or international section of the supermarket.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 290kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 54gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 1318mgPotassium: 1223mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 621IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 1mg