Steamed Fish with Fragrant Sauce (Quick & Easy Chinese Steamed Fish with Soy Sauce Recipe)
Servings: 2 servings
Equipment
- Steam Basket or Steamer Pot
Ingredients
- 300 grams fish fillet 300克鱼柳
- 5 ginger slices 5片姜片
Fragrant Sauce 酱汁:
- 1 star anise 八角 1 颗
- 1/4 cinnamon 肉桂 1/4 根
- 2-3 tablespoon cooking oil 食用油 2-3 汤匙
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 生抽 1 汤匙
Garnish 装饰:
- 2 sprigs spring onion julienned 2根葱，切丝
- 20 grams ginger julienned 20克姜，切丝
- 2 sprigs coriander 2根香菜
- 1 chili, finely sliced 1个辣椒，切成细丝
Instructions
Prepare the fish
- Clean the fish thoroughly with water. (remove any blood clots).
- Place ginger slices on a plate.
- Place the fish fillet on top of the ginger. (If you are using whole fish, place the ginger slices into the belly of the fish.)
Steam the fish
- Once the water in the wok comes to a boil, steam the fish on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
Prepare the fragrant oil
- Heat cooking oil in a small pan.
- Add star anise and cinnamon.
- Heat until the oil becomes very hot and you start to see bubbles around the spices. (This helps infuse the oil with fragrance and a slight sweetness.)
- Remove the star anise and cinnamon from the oil.
Optional: remove fish water
- Once the fish is cooked, check the liquid on the plate.
- If the fish is fresh, the liquid will taste sweet and you can keep it.
- If the fish is not very fresh, you may remove the liquid as it can taste slightly fishy.
Prepare the garnish
- Add julienned ginger, spring onions, and coriander on top of the steamed fish.
Finish the dish
- Pour the hot oil over the fish and garnish.
- Add light soy sauce.
- Garnish with more spring onions and coriander.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Use fresh fish when possible:
Fresh fish produces a naturally sweeter steaming liquid and better overall flavour. Steam on high heat:
Steaming on high heat helps the fish cook quickly and keeps the texture tender. Infuse the oil properly:
Heat the oil until you see bubbles around the spices to extract maximum fragrance. Remove steaming liquid if needed:
If the fish is not very fresh, removing the liquid can help reduce any fishy taste.
Fresh fish produces a naturally sweeter steaming liquid and better overall flavour. Steam on high heat:
Steaming on high heat helps the fish cook quickly and keeps the texture tender. Infuse the oil properly:
Heat the oil until you see bubbles around the spices to extract maximum fragrance. Remove steaming liquid if needed:
If the fish is not very fresh, removing the liquid can help reduce any fishy taste.