#ewew shares A Useful Tip on Steaming Fish

I don't know about you but I love to eat steamed fish...either ordering it at a restaurant when I'm eating out or cooking one when I'm at home.

I'm not sure if you know this already but I'd like to share this tip on steaming fish (that is if you don't already know).  I actually learned this (or more like stole this tip) when I ordered steam fish from a roadside stall once (it was many years ago).  Since it was a roadside stall, obviously the cooking was done in full view of everyone...and nosy as I was, I stayed behind to watch.  No-lah, I was busy choosing my fish and that's when I noticed the way they steamed the fish.

They'd put a pair of chopsticks underneath the fish to ensure the fish is raised up on the plate.  This is so that they can catch the drippings that come out from the fish as a result of the steaming.  They would then transfer the fish onto another plate before adding the necessary sauces and garnishing.

Armed with this new tip, I began to experiment with the way I steamed fish at home.  I'd follow them and use a pair of chopsticks to raise up the fish.  As you can see, whatever liquid that drips from the fish turns to murky drippings the moment it comes into contact with hot water or steam)! >_<

This murky looking cooking juices need to be discarded.  I think this is what gives the fish (and the sauce) that fishy smell.  I realised that once this cloudy liquid is discarded, the fish doesn't smell or taste as fishy.  Of course, if the fish is really fresh to start with, then we'd probably not have this issue to begin with but it's not always possible to get super fresh fish from our markets :'(

Besides using the chopsticks, I would sometimes use big chunks of ginger to sit my fish on top so that it doesn't touch the bottom of the plate.

I would then put the fish (white pomfret in this case) to steam with more ginger chunks on top.  The key to a restaurant-quality steamed fish is to steam it on medium heat (not over rapid boiling water) so that the fish stays delicate.

And 5 minutes before the fish finishes steaming, I would take it out, transfer the fish onto another plate and discard the liquid (and the ginger chunks).

I would then put the shredded ginger (hopefully more finely shredded than mine) and spring onions onto the fish, add the required amount of soya sauce (+ some water), a dash or two of sesame oil and a splash of shoaxing wine...and put it back on the steamer to finish off the final minutes of cooking.  That way, the sauce has a chance to get warm (or you can heat up the sauce separately and pour it over the fish).

Once the fish is ready, pour the hot oil and browned garlic over it (or you can also drop the shredded ginger and scallions into the hot oil to pop up the flavours a bit).  And if you want to present it like a restaurant-quality steamed fish, you can shred some spring onions (in long strands) very finely and drop it into a bowl of cold water.  That way the strands will curl up nicely and you can add that on top (with some chopped Chinese parsley) once your fish is ready.

Although I love to eat steamed pomfret, I prefer to fry the white (or silver) pomfret in oil till crispy (my son's favourite too).  The more premium (and now very expensive) "tau tai chong" (Chinese silver pomfret) is better suited for steaming as the fish is larger in size, the flesh thicker and a bit more flavourful than the white pomfret.  For the life of me, I'm pretty bad at recognising different types of fish...but this white pomfret and the Chinese silver pomfret, I can easily differentiate.

If you have not steamed fish this way, give this a try the next time and see if there's a difference.  For me, there was...as I felt the sauce not only tasted better (without the fishy smell) but also looked better (without being cloudy).