I remember watching an episode of a show hosted by Rachel Ray (before she became really famous where she goes into a celebrity home and watch them cook their specialty dishes or their favorite meals); she went to Kelly Hu’s house and Kelly cooked some of her favorite chinese dishes and one of those was steamed fish.
I wanted to try it ever since but as always the case with me, with so many saved dishes and so little time to go through it all and the fact that I’m not the most organized person in the world, it was all forgotten until we ate at our favorite chinese tea house again last week.. I love everything there, the yummy steamed dumplings, the sauteed meat and veggies dishes, the sesame seed balls (buchi), the almond jelly dessert and the steamed chicken and steamed fish fillet with garlic.
I thought of recreating the steamed fish fillet that we just ate at that resto instead of Kelly Hu’s because it’s easier for the kids to eat bone-less fish instead of whole. It also has some kind of wonton wrapper underneath the fish and yummy toasted garlic which I love which convinced me even more to give it a try. I used two almost identical recipes in re-making this dish plus I added a touch of chilli flakes to spice it up a little and used cream dory fish which is a little thicker than what we had but just as delicious..just remember not to over-cook the fish ( I think I did a little so it wasn’t as flaky and tender..another lesson learned)
So here goes:
arrange the fish fillet on a plate that will fit inside a pot or steamer
saute garlic until nicely browned..I love it crunchy…careful not to over-brown it or it will taste bitter
here it is…yum,yum,YUM! love it!
RECIPE FOR CHINESE STEAMED FISH FILLET
with garlic, scallions and chilli flakes
inspired by recipes from Epicurious and hereserves 4-5
Ingredients:
1/2 cup light soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup chinese rice wine
1-2 pounds sole fillet, cut into 8 pieces ( I used cream dory)
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, finely julienned
8 scallions, cut crosswise into 1-inch lengths
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
wonton wrappersGarnish or Finishing Touch:
1/4 cup neutral cooking oil (I used coconut oil)
2 heaping tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. sesame oilIn medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, rice wine. Lay 4-5 pieces wonton wrapper and arrange fish on top on 2-3 rimmed plates. Drizzle each piece with 1 tablespoon soy sauce mixture and scatter with julienned ginger. (Set remaining sauce aside for finishing dish.) Cover and refrigerate 15 minutes.
Fit large saucepan with flat steamer basket, fill with 1 inch water, and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and transfer 1 plate to steamer basket. Cover and steam 4 minutes. Without lifting lid, turn off flame and allow residual heat to finish cooking until fish is just cooked through, about 1 minute more.
note: I don’t have a steamer basket so I just used a small ceramic bowl placed inside a deep wide-rimmed saucepan to prop the plate up
Carefully remove plate (keep warm in oven). Return water in steamer to boil, transfer second plate to steamer, and steam remaining fish in same manner.
While fish is steaming, in small saucepan over moderate heat, heat oils over medium heat. Add garlic and gently cook until garlic is browned. Watch carefully because garlic quickly turns from brown to burnt. Keep warm.
Divide fish among 4 plates and top with julienned scallions and chilli flakes and fried garlic. Pour splash of hot oil over each dish
Thanks for reading and Have a nice day! 🙂
OMG how did i not see this recipe before?!?! I would order this dish a lot at chinese restaurants but now i know how to make it HURRAY! I love the smokiness that the garlic has once it has been fried to a crisp, this looks amazing thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Hi! I was looking at your blog for your macarons (which look yummy by the way regardless of whether they have feet or not!) – but it was really this dish that caught my eye – it looks divine!
Looks lovely and delicious. Steamed fish if not over cooked is always a favourite in my family. It’s also a healthier version. I love to put alot of fried ginger strips on top.
Hey olive,
That looks FABUDELISSHOUS!! I made something similar looking sometime back but definitely not steamed.
http://food-thought-for.blogspot.com/2009/09/fishy-fuzon.html#commentsIts
good to know the it involves Rach. I am a big fan of hers you know 🙂
This calls out to a fish person like me– ANY DAY !
The title alone made me soooo hungry Olive. This is gorgeous and I LOVE the crispy garlic, it is my favorite ! Steamed fish is sooo light and healthy too…
That looks very healthy. I love the crunchy bits on top. Sometimes I like to use fried shallots. Tastes like crisp.
This definitely a healthy dish for all at home.