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steamed whole fish recipe

Steamed Whole Fish

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.
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 3
Course: Fish and Seafood
Cuisine: Asian, Cantonese, Chinese
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kg whole fish
For Fish Marination
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice
  • 1-½ tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp celery seeds
  • 1 tbsp red chili flakes
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
While Steaming the Fish
  • 2 scallions
  • 5-6 cloves garlic
  • 1 inch ginger piece
  • 2-3 slices capsicum
  • 2-4 fresh green chilies
  • butter as desired

Method
 

Preparing the Fish
  1. Ensure that your fish is scaled and gutted completely. Cut off the fins with kitchen shears. If you do not remove the fins before steaming, you can remove them easily after steaming. Rinse the whole fish clean.
    clean the whole fish for steaming
  2. Apply deep cuts on both sides of the cleaned whole fish with the kitchen knife. Keep ½ inch distance between the cuts.
    apply cuts on the whole fish
Fish Marination
  1. Take a mixing bowl and marinate the fish by combining white vinegar or lemon juice, salt, celery seeds, red chili flakes, and freshly ground black pepper. Mix all the ingredients well.
  2. Rub the mixture on both sides of the fish as well as inside the cuts. Rub the mixture also inside the fish cavity. Set it aside for 5 to 6 hours for marination.
    marination of the whole fish
Steaming Setup
  1. Take a large cooking pot or large wok with a lid. Place a steaming rack or any metal stand inside the pot. It should be tall enough so that the boiling water does not reach the fish.
    steaming setup to steam whole fish
How to Steam Whole Fish
  1. To steam the whole fish, I used a large enough strainer plate to place the fish on it. Lay the green onion or scallions (sliced vertically) on the plate. Now place some sliced pieces of capsicum, 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, and one-inch piece of ginger (sliced into 3 to 4 pieces).
    steamed whole fish 1
  2. Now place fish on them. Stuff the cavity of fish with two fresh green chilies, a few pieces of ginger, and garlic. Next, pour one liter of water into the pot. keep the flame medium to high.
  3. 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.
    steamed whole fish 3
  4. When the water comes to a boil, cover the pot with its lid. Put some weight over the lid to hold maximum steam inside. It will take 25 to 30 minutes to steam the fish.
    steamed whole fish 4
Serving the Steamed Whole Fish
  1. 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.
    steamed whole fish with sauce

Notes

If you haven't any large pot readily available with you, you may cut the fish into large pieces to accommodate the fish easily inside the available cooking pot.