white pomfret

Brown Sauce Pomfret

image

Brown Sauce Pomfret

My wife has been cooking quite a number of meals lately. And this particular dish is my favourite because she does it so well. It is such a simple but flavourful dish that I just got to share it.

The fish here is pomfret and it’s the expensive one which is the white pomfret. This one cost me SGD 15.00 and it wasn’t all that big – probably about 600 grams thereabouts. But it was really fresh and we all loved it.

So my wife loves to cook it in this Brown Sauce that is made up simple of oyster sauce and shao xing hua tiao jiu or chinese rice wine. And it’s so simple and the recipe totally rocks. So to me this dish is called Brown Sauce Pomfret.

The garnishing is also an essential component to making this dish great. A simple combination of Young Ginger slices and shredded Local Celery. The result was simply delicious (I know the photo doesn’t do it justice but try the recipe, it totally rocks!).

Recipe

Ingredients

1 whole White Pomfret (about 600 grams will be sufficient for the pan and for two persons)
3 stalks of Local Celery (I don’t know how else to put it but you can get this vegetable at the local wet market)
3 inches of Young Ginger (sliced very thinly)
Half a bowl of Rice Wine (we use shao xing hua tiao jiu)
2 tbsp of Premium Grade Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce (I like to use only the best)
Water (to adjust the saltiness accordingly)

Method

1. Wash and make sure the pomfret is at room temperature.

2. Add 2 tbsp Olive Oil into the pan and then stir fry the ginger slices. Juliene the ginger into thin strips will allow for ease of cooking and also extra the spicy pungent flavours.

3. When you can smell the fragrance of the ginger, add the oyster sauce and rice wine to simmer a little. Then add the pomfret to cook 5 minutes on each side with the wok cover on.

4. Adjust the sauce with a little water. Towards the end add the chopped local celery to the fish. And steam for 1 minute. After that you can serve.

Bon Appetit!

Teochew Steamed Pomfret

image

Teochew Steamed Pomfret

The most basic recipe in my arsenal of home cooked recipes, the white pomfret steamed in Teochew style. You may also wish to check out my other recipe Teochew Steamed Garoupa if you prefer another type.

The White Pomfret has accompanied our family feasts for many years now, I have been eating this fish since my childhood, steamed to perfection this way. In fact it is one of the few recipes that I used since starting my gastronomic journey.

This recipe is simple and basic. Dried shitake mushrooms, tomatoes, preserved salted vegetables (aka kiam chye), preserved salted plums and ginger. Garnished with Chinese parsley, and it is a perfect dish. I particularly like using this fish for Teochew style steaming  because the flesh is very succulent and sweet when cooked perfectly.

Recipe

Ingredients

A medium sized White Pomfret (maybe about 800-900 grams)
50-60 grams of Kiam Chye (shredded thinly)
2 medium sized Tomatoes (quartered)
5 pieces Dried Shitake Mushrooms (soaked and sliced)
2 pieces of Preserved Salted Plums
A few slices of Ginger
3 stalks of Chinese Parsley

Method

1. Wash and gut the pomfret. Or you can get the Fishmonger to help you gut the fish. Of course if you want to keep the fish fresh till the day you’re gonna eat it, it is recommended to keep the guts intact.

2. Place one crushed salted plum in the gut of the fish. Also place a few slices of Ginger in the stomach of the fish as well. This helps rid the stomach of the fish of any smells or bitter taste.

3. Soak the mushrooms in hot water and snip off the stems, then slice them. Continue to soak after slicing. Cut the tomatoes into quarters. As for the kiam chye, shred them thinly.

4. Sprinkle the shredded kiam chye on the centre of the plate. Then lay the pomfret on top of the salted vegetables. Surround the fish with the tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. Place the other crushed salted plum on the plate.

5. Steam the pomfret a good 20 minutes at high heat. Once it is done, garnish with chopped parsley. Allow the heat to wilt the parsley a little before serving. Shiok!

Bon Appetit!