steamed fish

Steamed Yellow Croacker

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Steamed Yellow Croacker

Actually to be really honest, I don’t know the name of this fish. I just assume that it is the Yellow Croacker because it looked yellow and opened its mouth as if it was trying to sing a song.

This fish probably taste best if you cooked in a milky broth, and the best way to do that would be to cook it with ginger and garlic, salted egg and seafood stock with a little fresh milk. No added salt required.

That’s basically how I would treat this fish. Here’s the recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 Yellow Croacker (usually the wet market would sell this fish)
handful of Garlic cloves
1 inch of Ginger sliced
1 Salted Egg
2 cups of Seafood Stock (usually it is frozen in the freezer)

Method:

1. Fry the peeled garlic cloves in oil. Using the tilted pan method to save oil when frying, especially if you have a shallow pan. Fry till the garlic cloves are brown. Then fry the sliced gingers till they are slightly brown.

2. After you have done all that, stuff the ginger slices into the belly of the croacker and place the frozen stock beside the fish (see picture). Once that is done, you can literally crack the salted egg into the pan and place the pan into the wok to steam.

3. Steam the fish for a good 20 minutes. The flesh of the fish should be tender and tend to flake easily. Add a little fresh milk, and the broth should be just perfect.

Bon Appetit!

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Oil saving method

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Pan tilt method

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Everything arranged and ready to steam

Teochew Steamed Garoupa

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Teochew Steamed Garoupa

The Garoupa is undoubtedly one of the best fish to be prepared in the Teochew style. The flesh when well steamed and cooked would be firm and flaky, sweet and succulent. It is truly a fish in a class of its own.

It’s one of my favourite fish for my Claypot Fish Head recipe where I would try to get the red variety of the fish. Delicious. There was no way of going back to any other variant of fish after tasting the Garoupa prepared in the claypot fish head style.

Tonight’s dinner is a presentation of this fish in classic Teochew style. Steamed with tomatoes, kiam chye, dried Shitake mushrooms and preserved salted plums. A few slices of Ginger to remove any awkward bitterness in the stomah, and the dish would be complete and ready.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 medium size Garoupa fish
20-30 grams of Kiam Chye (sliced)
5 pieces of Dried Shitake Mushrooms
2 medium size Tomatoes
2 pieces of Preserved Salted Plums
2 inches of Ginger
2 stalks of Spring Onions

Method

1. Defrost the fish (assuming that you are like me, storing the marketing of the week in the freezer). Meanwhile, slice the kiam chye (aka preserved salted vegetables) and quart the tomatoes. Decorate the metal plate (I use the metal plate for steaming all my fishes) with the prepared ingredients.

2. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot boiling water until softened. Then slice into large chunks. Also decorate the plate, surrounding the fish with the mushrooms. Slice a few pieces of ginger and stuff it into the stomach of the fish. This helps to rid the fish of any bitterness.

3. Place a preserved plum into the stomach cavity of the fish and crush another to be placed on the plate. This helps to flavour the fish as well as the fish stock that is expressed from the fish during steaming.

4. Steam the fish for at least 20 minutes at high heat. Garnish with spring onions if you like. Serve hot.

Bon Appetit!