Chinese Steamed Whole Fish is a traditional Chinese recipe (from Canton) for a whole steamed fish finished with spice infused oil, Shaoxing wine and soy sauce that would be a typical centrepiece for Chinese New Year celebrations. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Chinese version of: Chinese Steamed Whole Fish.
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This Chinese steamed whole fish (清蒸鱼) dish would form the centrepiece of a Chinese New Year feast. Fish are also deemed lucky in Chinese culture as the Chinese character “余” (abundant) shares the same pronunciation as 鱼 (fish). The origin of this recipe is Cantonese.
I used sea bream for this recipe but you could use one of several other species of fish, such as sea bass, grass carp, perch, grouper, catfish, flounder, etc.
Ingredients:
1 whole fish, gutted and descaled (about 400g)
2 spring onions, julienned
1 small piece of ginger, peeled and julienned
1½ tbsp cooking oil (sunflower, vegetable, peanut, etc.)
1 dried chilli, julienned
pinch of whole Sichuan peppercorns
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or substitute dry sherry)
½ tsp sugar
1 pinch of ground white pepper
Method:
Wash the cleaned and scaled fish thoroughly then pat dry with kitchen paper. Cut the fish at a 45-degree angle several times on each side (this helps it cook evenly). Lay it onto a plate that fits in the wok/pot which you’ll use to steam.
Stuff ⅓ of the spring and ginger into the body cavity of the fish. Scatter the remainder under and over the fish.
Set a steamer rack (or a small inverted saucer) in the centre of a wok. Add water to the wok (lower than the level of the rack/saucer) and bring it to a full boil.
Put the fish plate on top of the rack (saucer). Cover the wok with a lid. Steam over high heat for 8 minutes (add 2 more minutes if your fish is larger).
Take out the plate (use oven gloves to avoid burning). Carefully remove the cloudy liquid.
Heat up the oil, dried chilli shreds and Sichuan pepper in a small pan over low heat. As soon as the oil starts to smoke, pour it over the fish (you may either pour the spices onto the fish or discard them).
Add light soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, sugar and white pepper to the same pan. Heat up until it bubbles. Pour over the fish.
Serve immediately with plain rice (Don’t forget to dip the flesh into the sauce for best flavour).
