Chinese Steamed Fish

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Chinese Steamed Fish

July 6, 2007 by SteamyKitchen

When I go home to visit my Mom, I always ask for this dish, Chinese Steamed Fish. Mom lives in Los Angeles, where there is an Asian market on every street corner. Most have live fish tanks where you can choose which lucky fella gets to come home with you for a dinner date. Steaming is the purest and the most delicious way to cook fresh fish. We top it with soy sauce, cilantro, ginger, green onion slivers, and pour sizzling hot peanut oil all over the fish. You’ll taste the delicate, sweet flavor of the fish.

“Pick out your own fish to slaughter!?” you ask, squeamishly? Absolutely. My Asian friends know the routine. You arrive at the market early in the morning, when you are most alert and the fish are happy, having just eaten their breakfast. Stand in front of the fish tank.

But hold it.

Before you even start looking at the fish, you must do some simple, but essential calisthenic exercises to maximize your….

I’ve moved! Read the rest of this entry at my new home.

34 Responses

on July 6, 2007 at 11:18 pm | Reply Steve

This is by far my favorite preparation of fish, but I’ve never actually tried making it myself. Do you think it would work with fillets that are purchased frozen (like at Trader Joe’s) and then just defrosted at home?
on July 6, 2007 at 11:31 pm | Reply SteamyKitchen

Steve- Absolutely. The fish fillets at TJs are flash frozen on the boat if I’m not mistaken…which is next best to live fish.

If they are thin fillets, steam for 5-7 minutes on med low – ck to see if done.
on July 7, 2007 at 12:28 am | Reply Srivalli

Jaden..thats absolutely sweet looking fish you have…:)…nice presentation…

Srivalli
http://www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com
on July 7, 2007 at 2:58 am | Reply Rasa Malaysia

I want I want your big fish (bling bling). A secret tip to share, use rock sugar instead of sugar and it will taste like it’s straight out of the BEST Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong! (And yes, I just had one in Hong Kong a few days ago.)

Thanks for the package you sent. 🙂
on July 7, 2007 at 3:12 am | Reply Lucy Vanel

This makes me want to go out and get some fish right now. Thanks, Jaden! I thought your preparation calisthenics were funny!
on July 7, 2007 at 5:35 am | Reply Tanna

Do you suggest doing these calisthenics for several days or just how long before you approach the fish tank Jaden?
Beautiful steamed fish, thank you. Well done.
on July 7, 2007 at 6:49 am | Reply Big Boys Oven

Jaden, I wonder if your picking strategies works for me, I am male picking up pretty females?
on July 7, 2007 at 7:30 am | Reply Lydia

Beautiful fish — and your post has me laughing out loud! At my Asian supermarket, there are live fish tanks, and I watch people catch their own fish, but I’ve never had the courage to try it — and until I read your post, I wouldn’t have known what to look for (it’s been a while since I picked up a guy in a bar…. I might be a bit rusty on that!).
on July 7, 2007 at 9:15 am | Reply SteamyKitchen

RM- I totally agree! I love rock sugar…I even use it in my coffee.

Lucy- I should come out with a DVD

Tanna- I would say give yourself a good 2 minutes right in front of the fish tank. Just make sure you are wearing loose fitting clothing. You wouldn’t want to make yourself look any more stupidererer bending down and hearing a rriiiiiiipppp.

BBO- OF COURSE!! Go for the big boobies.

Lydia- go forth young grasshoppa….
on July 7, 2007 at 10:36 am | Reply Nathan

Chinese-style steamed fish is sooo good. I can’t wait to try this out.

I have this slight fish picking phobia though. A few years back I was at 99 Ranch and it was my turn to tell the fish monger which one I wanted. I didn’t speak up immediately, so he quickly went to the next customer. The customer said, “Oh, he was in front of me.” The fish monger replied, “No talk. No fish. Next.”

Ah yes, lesson learned.
on July 7, 2007 at 10:42 am | Reply courtney

Looks fabulous! I always love that the in-laws-to-be have a steamed fish like this EVERY single night of the week. I’ve tried it myself but don’t have a large enough pan. Now I think I’ll have to go get one soon.
on July 7, 2007 at 11:17 am | Reply eastmeetswestkitchen

Love your ‘fish excecises’ and what a good looking fish you have there! 🙂
on July 7, 2007 at 11:26 am | Reply Lynn

Let me know when the Steamy Kitchen workout video comes out. I could use the exercise. Thanks for the laughs and the gorgeous recipes.
on July 7, 2007 at 11:55 am | Reply Kirk

Hi Jaden – Here’s one from the Missus…”don’t pick the first fish who looks at you…you don’t want to appear too anxious!” LOL!
on July 7, 2007 at 1:42 pm | Reply SmerkyGrl

Hehehe picking out fish like you’d pick out a guy at a bar…oh Jaden, you slaaaaaaaaay me!
on July 7, 2007 at 1:54 pm | Reply tigerfish

I love to steam my cod fish(TJ’s fillets) and hallibut fillets too!
You sure know how to pick your fish – I will pretend to pass out in the tank so that I get to live in my comfort zone forEVER! ;p
on July 7, 2007 at 3:32 pm | Reply Amy

I agree steaming is the best way to prepare fresh fish. Up until now I didn’t know how to choose fish so thanks so much for the tips! The mental picture of people doing those exercises was hilarious. 😀 I like the heat up the green onions in the hot oil, I think it brings out more of their flavor to “bao” in the oil.
on July 7, 2007 at 3:38 pm | Reply Jennifer Jeffrey

Mmmm…. that’s a fine piece of fish you’ve got there. I’ll be thinking of your “imagine a guy in a bar…” when I go to the fish market next!
on July 7, 2007 at 3:39 pm | Reply steeped

When I was little a couple family friends owned a Chinese/Korean restaurant (I’m not sure if there’s a specific regional term for this sort of cuisine, do you know?) and they’d always serve us a whole steamed fish like this, whether we ordered it or not. Extracting the tender white flesh with my chopsticks and tasting that lovely bloom of ginger and garlic and clean fish is one of my favorite food memories. I’ll definitely be trying this one soon.
on July 7, 2007 at 3:50 pm | Reply Peking Chicken with Steamed Buns « Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen

[…] Chinese Steamed Fish […]
on July 7, 2007 at 4:04 pm | Reply Dani

Just recently discovered your blog…I’m really enjoying it! Thanks!
on July 7, 2007 at 5:34 pm | Reply SteamyKitchen

Nathan- haha- NO TALKIE NO FISHY!

Courtney- ah! you must learn the secrets of steamed fish as new daughter in law!

EWKitchen- hey girl – stop eyeing my fish! he’s MINE!
🙂

Lynn- free set of ginsu knives too!

Kirk- LOL – thats so true

Smerkygirl- oh i slay myself at times too

Tiger- u too smart!

Amy- u are totally right – I should put the ginger and scallions in the hot oil

Jennifer- you’ll be part of my exercise dvd?

Steeped – Chinese + Korean = Chorean or Kornese (just kidding)

Dani- nice to meet you!
on July 7, 2007 at 7:30 pm | Reply Melinda

Dear Steamy, I was out in the back garden practicing my fish pointing exercises and was surprised to see I landed some stray circling planes from Heathrow Airport. That pointing exercise should come with a risk assessment and warning label!
Chinese steamed fish sounds so tantalizing my taste buds are tingling!
on July 7, 2007 at 8:00 pm | Reply Top Posts « WordPress.com

[…] Chinese Steamed Fish [image] Above: Chinese Steamed Rockfish When I go home to visit my Mom, I always ask for this dish, Chinese Steamed […] […]
on July 7, 2007 at 10:09 pm | Reply Cynthia

I have read about this technique/method of chinese steamed fish, sounds sooooo flavourful.

So can I go stay with your mom and let her teach me how to cook these dishes? 🙂
on July 7, 2007 at 10:17 pm | Reply honest ape

We don’t have an Asian market on every corner. We have one for our whole town. And it is the saddest market I have ever been to. The shelves are half-empty, it smells horrid, and sells things like “Bug Joy” instead of Bok Choy and “Fress Red Union” instead of Fresh Red Onion. When I was there last, there was a whole frog in a vacuum-sealed bag. It looked so sad. Not the frog, the store. The frog just looked stunned.
on July 8, 2007 at 1:34 am | Reply Tea

I don’t even like fish and you’ve got me considering this dish, which does sound delicious. Might have to try picking up a fish of my own as well. Hoprfully a cute, well-mannered one with a good sense of humor. That’s not too much to ask, is it?:-)
on July 8, 2007 at 6:05 pm | Reply How to Cook Chinese Steamed Fish

[…] Steamy Kitchen […]
on July 8, 2007 at 9:03 pm | Reply Wandering Chopsticks

Add VNese coriander and fish sauce and you’ve got VNese steamed fish. 🙂 And there’s plenty of fish in the sea so you can try another method of steaming. Bwhahaha!
on July 8, 2007 at 9:21 pm | Reply Ellie

Mmm, I absolutely ADORE steamed fish, and snapper happens to be my favourite! Will have to make the journey to the fish markets this weekend to see if I can pick myself a delicious fresh specimen to try this on!
on July 9, 2007 at 6:13 am | Reply Lindsay

Steamed fish is the greatest thing ever! thanks for the great article, as always.
on July 9, 2007 at 7:24 am | Reply wmw

For once, I’m not craving….as I’m not a fan of fish! Hahaha…
on July 9, 2007 at 2:03 pm | Reply glue

The problem for me is undercooking / overcooking. It’s easy to do either but hard to get it just right. Is there a guide to how much more time to add on for extra weight? Ie. 1st lb equal 15 min, each additional equal 5min?

humm…
yumm…
on November 1, 2007 at 12:58 pm | Reply final food » vanilla bean hope

[…] Even better, she is a terrific teacher who among other things encourages kitchen novices like me to try new things with a lot of humour and lively […]

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