A steamed whole fish is a staple of Chinese Cantonese cuisine. Steamed fish is served at holiday meals and special occasions like Cantonese weddings, Chinese New Year banquets, and family gatherings.

The traditional way to steam fish is with a large wok, steaming rack, and lid, or wok and bamboo steamer. Restaurants mostly use steam ovens or large multi-level steamers to steam the fish.

This recipe of steamed fish with ginger and spring onion is a great recipe for fresh-caught fish. The blend of certain spices, aromatics, and butter adds nice flavors and aroma to the steamed fish.

The aromatics such as scallions (spring onions or green onions), ginger, garlic, capsicum steamed with fish, produce a nice aroma. For stronger spicier flavors, I marinated the fish with a mixture of white vinegar, celery seeds, red chili flakes, freshly ground black pepper, and salt.

Traditional Chinese Style Steamed Whole Fish

In classic Chinese cuisine, the whole fish is topped with scallions, coriander leaves (Cilantro in Spanish), and ginger, then doused with hot oil. Steamed whole fish along with head is a super favorite dish of the older Chinese folks.

In this recipe, besides scallions, and ginger, I used garlic as an additional aromatic and steamed these aromatics together with the fish.

I tried the recipe this way and the whole fish steamed tender with bursting flavors of aromatics and spices. The flavors of aromatics and butter, too, enhance the taste of steamed fish.

How to Steam a Whole Fish

Don’t intimidate by steaming a whole fish. It’s an easy and delicious way to steam the whole fish. You need a few simple ingredients that can probably be found in your own pantry.

In this recipe, I’ll tell you how easily we can steam fish without a steamer. To have a steaming setup at home is super easy. We just need a large pot with a lid and a steaming rack to sit the plate laying whole fish on it.

There are many whole fish recipes with variations in cooking methods and flavors. With this recipe, you can steam any type of whole fish available near you. It is the best option to go for fresh whole fish if it is easily accessible for you.

Remember, a perfectly steamed fish has flesh that remains tender.

1. Preparing the Fish

Ensure that your fishmonger scaled and gutted the fish completely. If you find any scales, you can remove them easily using a serrated steak knife.

Cut off the fins with kitchen shears. If you do not trim off the fins before steaming, you can remove them easily after steaming the fish.

Make sure that the cavity is clean. You can remove the gills with the help of kitchen shears and rinse the area. Rinse the whole fish clean. Now the fish is ready for the next process.

The whole fish I used in this recipe weighed 1 kg. Apply cuts on the cleaned whole fish with the kitchen knife. Give deep cuts so that the spice mixture may absorb well inside the fish. Keep a ½ inch distance between the cuts. Apply cuts on both sides of the fish.

2. Fish Marination

Marinate the fish to get the best taste.

In a mixing bowl combine white vinegar or lemon juice, salt, celery seeds, red chili flakes, and freshly ground black pepper. Mix all the ingredients well and apply this mixture to the whole fish.

Rub the mixture on both sides of the fish as well as inside the cuts. Rub the mixture also inside the fish cavity. Set aside for 5 to 6 hours for marination.

3. Steaming Setup

Now prepare the steaming setup. We’ll steam the fish without a steamer. To steam the fish, I used a large enough strainer plate to place the fish on it. Take a large cooking pot or large wok with a lid. Place a steaming rack or any metal stand inside the pot.

That’s it, the steaming setup is ready.

4. Steaming the Fish

Lay the green onion or scallions (sliced vertically) on the plate to get a nice taste. Also place some sliced pieces of capsicum, 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, and one-inch piece of ginger (sliced into 3 to 4 pieces).

Now place fish on them. Stuff the cavity of fish with two fresh green chilies, a few pieces of ginger, and garlic. Our fish is ready now for steaming.

Pour one liter of water into the pot. Turn on the flame and keep it medium to high. To ensure enough gap between water and fish, place a steaming rack or metal stand inside the pot. It should be tall enough so that the boiling water does not reach the fish.

Now place the fish on the steaming rack. Put some butter on the fish. You can pour desi ghee as a substitute but butter gives a nice taste to the steamed fish.

When the water comes to a boil, cover the cooking pot with its lid. Put some weight over the lid to hold maximum steam inside. The fish will be steamed in 25 to 30 minutes. Now we’ll prepare the sauce to serve with the fish by the time the fish gets steamed.

Delicious Orange-veggies Sauce for Steamed Whole Fish

I prepared delicious orange veggies sauce to serve with steamed whole fish.

In a frying pan, pour 1 tbsp cooking oil. Heat the oil lightly. Put garlic paste into it. Fry it light brown on a very low flame. Don’t fry it dark brown, its taste will spoil.

Add diced carrots to it. Fry it for 1 minute. Now add diced capsicum and fry it for half a minute. Now season it with salt and white pepper powder or black pepper powder. White pepper powder gives a nice taste. Next, add orange juice to it.

To enhance the flavor of the sauce, add the green part of the scallion to it. Chop the green part of one or two scallions and include them in the sauce.

When the sauce comes to a bubble, add sugar to it. Don’t over-boil the sauce to retain its best taste. When the sugar is dissolved, add cornflour slurry to thicken the sauce.

Add the slurry gradually while stirring at the same time to prevent making the lumps in the sauce.

Cook the cornflour slurry for half a minute at least and continue till you get the sauce of desired consistency. If you feel the sauce got thicker, add more orange juice to it. After preparation of sauce, serve it hot with hot steamed fish.

How to Prepare Cornflour Slurry

Prepare the cornflour slurry by mixing 1 tbsp of cornflour into 4 tbsp water or orange juice.

Serving the Steamed Whole Fish

Now come to the fish. Almost after 30 minutes, remove the weight from the lid. You will see the steamed fish is ready to serve. You may check the doneness with the butter knife.

Shift the steamed fish to the serving dish. Serve it hot with orange-veggies sauce.

How long do you steam whole fish?

Steaming will vary based on the type and size of the fish. It is easy to know if your fish is done.

Simply use a butter knife to determine if the steamed fish is done. Run the butter knife gently into the thickest part of the fish. If it runs through smoothly, the fish is done.

For this recipe, 25 to 30 minutes of steaming is sufficient. Continue steaming if needed but avoid over steaming to get the best taste.

Important Recipe Tips!

If you do not trim off the fins before steaming, you can remove them easily after steaming the fish.
To steam the fish, use a large enough strainer plate to place the fish on it. You can use any heat-proof plate, but on a strainer plate, the steam will reach easily each part of the fish.
The steaming rack should be tall enough to ensure enough gap between water and fish. The gap is necessary in order to keep the boiling water away from the fish.
Avoid oversteaming the fish as the over-steamed fish may not taste good.
Don’t over boil the sauce as it will spoil its taste.