Cantonese steamed whole fish with ginger and scallion products a super umami flavor with juicy and tender meat. This Chinese steamed fish can be finished within 15 minutes. We also include a lovely sweetened soy sauce for steamed fish.
What's Chinese steamed fish
Chinese steamed fish is a quintessential Cantonese dish that is beloved in China. With its fresh ingredients, aromatic spices, and light cooking method, steamed fish is the epitome of Cantonese cuisine's emphasis on preserving natural flavors and bringing out the best in premium ingredients. No fancy cooking techniques, it is super easy to finish.
Why Steaming
Steaming is a very popular Chinese cooking method, especially for making super easy and simple dishes. Steaming gently cooks food using hot steam rather than intense dry heat and thus it helps to maintain the texture and original flavor of the raw ingredients. We love to match all steamed dishes with a lovely savory base just like Chinese steamed chicken.
Compared with other cooking methods like pan-frying, and roasting, steaming is much healthier and much easier.
Can I use a fish fillet for Chinese steamed fish?
Yes, you can use fillets of other white fish to replace the whole fish. It is a national custom to steam whole fish, symbolizing the whole family.
What types of fish to choose
If you get a fishing man in your house, this is a super great way to cook their harvests. Within only 20 minutes, the restaurant-style steamed fish can be on your family table. In China, we have several ways of steaming fish depending on the types of fish and the water conditions, and the local cooking culture. Firstly, we treat freshwater fish and sea fish differently. Though we are using a Cantonese way of making steamed fish, please note that in Cantonese cuisine, where seafish is mostly used for steamed fish, marinating is not needed. Clear the fish, dry it, and steam it directly with the highest fire. However, in other Southern cuisines, where freshwater fish is mostly used for steaming, marinating with salt, cooking wine and aromatics can remove the “fish smelly “greatly.
Cooking tips
Choose smaller and slimmer fresher fish
If possible, 500g to 700g live fish is the best option for steamed whole fish. If you cannot get the living ones, choose the fresher ones with clear eyes and free of any odd smelly. In general, flatter fishes are a better choice than thicker ones, as they need shorter steaming time and the meat can be kept as tender as possible.
Don't overcook
For example, to steam a 600g fish in a home kitchen, we only need 5-7 minutes to finish steaming a sea fish and 7-10 minutes to finish steaming a freshwater fish. My favorite way is to steam for 5 minutes and stand for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Use seasoned soy sauce for the best flavors
We use a combined seasoned soy sauce for seafood for most of cantonese steamed dishes. It is lighter and slightly sweeter than normal light soy sauce. You can purchase it from your local asian stores or on amazon. You can make a similar taste by using light soy sauce.
In addition, you can also use douchi and fermented black beans which are very popular ingredients in all Cantonese steamed dishes like steamed ribs. Steamed fish with dou-chi can be more savory and then you need to reduce the amount of light soy sauce accordingly.
Top with lovely decorate
Decorate the steamed fish with shredded scallion, pepper, and red peppers. Those combinations can not only add more colors but also hence the flavor of the fish. Aromatics with hot oil is a killer step for this dish.
Coriander is another popular decoration choice for Cantonese steamed fish, giving it an infused coriander aroma.
Higher the fish when steaming
I recommend highly the fish with chopsticks or ginger cubes so the vapor can go through evenly.
Instructions
Cut half of the scallion and ginger into small sections. For decoration: shred scallion with a fork and then soak them in cold water.
Clean the fish completely and peel off any black skins in the stomach of the fish. Drain completely.
Watch the body shape if your fish. If it gets a thick back, cut a line and separate the back into two parts. Or if it gets thick stomach, cut 2 lines on the thickest meat, so the meat can be cooked in a shorter time and be kept as tender as possible.(Optional for fresh water fish only), spread a very thin layer of salt on the surface and stomach of the fish.Place scallion and ginger inside of the fish.
Place the scallion white or two sections of chopsticks and then place the fish in. Lay some scallion and ginger on top.
Bring enough water to a boiling in a large pot and place the fish in after the water boils. Start the count the time, steam 5 minutes and stand for 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer the fish to a clean plate, discard the scallion and ginger and place the newly cut scallions.Heat around 2 tablespoons of cooking oil until almost smoky and pour the oil evenly on the scallion shreds.
Heat the seasoned soy sauce until warm and pour evenly on the plate. If your soy sauce is cold, pour them on the two sides of the fish, not over the fish.
Chinese Steamed Fish
Ingredients
- One fresh fish ,500g to 700g
- 6-7 scallion
- 1 small chunk of ginger
- 2 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
- 3 tbsp. seasoned soy sauce
Decoration
- 5-6 shred red pepper
- 2 scallion
- 2 coriander
- pinch of salt ,optional for fresh water fish only
Instructions
- Cut half of the scallion and ginger into small sections.
- For decoration: shred scallion with a fork and then soak them in cold water.
- Clean the fish completely and peel off any black skins in the stomach of the fish. Drain completely.
- Watch the body shape if your fish. If it gets a thick back, cut a line and separate the back into two parts. Or if it gets thick stomach, cut 2 lines on the thickest meat, so the meat can be cooked in a shorter time and be kept as tender as possible. (Optional for fresh water fish only), spread a very thin layer of salt on the surface and stomach of the fish. Place scallion and ginger inside of the fish.
- Place two scoops on the plates, or two sections of chopsticks and then place the fish in.
- Bring enough water to a boiling in a large pot and place the fish in after the water boils. Start the count the time, steam 5 minutes and stand for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Transfer the fish to a clean plate, discard the scallion and ginger and place the newly cut scallions. Heat around 2 tablespoons of cooking oil until almost smoky and pour the oil evenly on the scallion shreds.
- Heat the seasoned soy sauce until warm and pour evenly on the plate. If your soy sauce is cold, pour them on the two sides of the fish, not over the fish.
- Serve hot and should be finished within 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
James Strange
A simple but great way to cook fish.
Kay
I think you meant to say, "1 small chunk of Ginger" not "finger". Also, for the "chop sticker", do you mean a steamer?
Thank you.
Elaine
Hi Kay,
Thanks for the corrections.
I should mean chopsticks.
Claudine
A piece of ginger is referred to as a "finger", not a chunk. Fantastic recipe. I used to live in Hong Kong for 20 years and this is my favorite way to have fish. So clean and tender. Delicious! Thank you so much!
Elaine
Thanks so much Claudine for the information. I know that finger is a better words for similar situation.
Rachel
How long is the dish that you used in this photo?
Elaine
You mean how long the fish is?
Morgan
We've had similar dishes multiple times while dining at various restaurants, but tonight was our first time making at home. Our fear of this being a complex and difficult dish to make the right way was all for nothing, as it was actually very simple. We followed the recipe as-is and it turned out great!
Elaine
Thanks Morgan for your lovely feedback. Agree, this is quite simple and delicious. Very friendly for new beginners.