Easy Steamed Fish
I learnt this super easy way of cooking steamed fish from my mum and to me, this dish is perfect in every way.
Perfect because … this dish cost about S$4 (cheap!), 10 minutes to prepare (easy!) and 10 minutes to cook (fast!). It’s super healthy, and no messy clean ups later. It has all my favourite tastes (salty/spicy/tangy) as well as favourite food ingredients like ginger, spring onions, mushrooms, chili, tomato and sour plums. I lick up every last drop of the water that comes from steaming the fish… so satisfying! =D
This is so easy that you can whip this up when you’re cooking for one person too. Simply cook some rice (or porridge) while you are steaming the fish and you have a healthy, delicious home cooked meal in no time. To me, this certainly beats eating crappy & unhealthy food court meals for around the same price ;p
Note: If you like a recipe for steaming a whole fish, check out my Teochew steamed fish recipe.
Ingredients
(Serves 1-2)
Note: If cooking for more, just use a bigger piece of fish and add more of the other ingredients accordingly to fill the plate.– 1 small cut of fish (about 150g onwards)
– 1 thick stalk spring onions, cut to 2 inch lengths
– 5 slices ginger, sliced thinly
– 1 chilli padi, sliced thinly (adjust or omit to your liking)
– 1/2 to 1 tomato, cut to small wedges
– 2 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
– 1 sour plum (aka salted plum)
– 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
– 2 tbsp water (or more if you like more “soup”)Directions
1. Place fish (skin side down) in a deep plate. Drizzle light soy sauce and water over the fish. Keep in fridge (covered) for at least 30 minutes if you can.
2. Scatter the rest of the ingredients evenly over the fish.
3. Steam on high heat for 10-15 minutes (note: for the small piece I had, it is cooked after 10 minutes of steaming).
Clean plate, a sign of satisfaction (or greed?)
Hi PinkyMehan and Linty, thank you so much for your kind words and feedback. Glad both of you liked the recipe, it makes me happy to hear that :)
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What’s sour plum? Can I use the paste version?
It’s the brown ball looking thing (see photos). It’s usually sold in a jar with preserved liquids and commonly used for steaming fish. I’m not sure about the paste, I’ve not tried those before.
Guys – hope it will help everyone looking for the sour plums. It is called Shatow sour plums – come in a small jar. U can get it at the provision shop.
Normally , they used it in teochew style steam fish. For the cantonese ie Hk style, no sour plum is used. Only light soya sauce
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hi, where can i get sour plum? issit in bottled form?
Hi Min, it’s usually also labelled as “salted plums”. Yes the plums are soaked in liquid, usually in a glass bottle. I got mine from NTUC.
What types of fish is recommended for steaming then besides white pomfret?
Hi Jadey, you can use any type of preferred fresh fish such as silver pomfret and grouper :)
nice! really! my sister and I were fighting over the fish. I guess the plums really made a difference.
Hi!
I’m making this today! Thanks for the recipe!
I would like to know what else I can do with the salted plums. I intend to get the same bottle of salted plums but I’m not sure what to do with the rest of the plums. I prepare steamed fish at least once a week but I normally use a slightly different recipe.
tQ ..i always want to know how cook the simplest steam fish…ie chinese cooking…