Steamed Sea Bream with Ginger, Soy and Spring Onion Recipe
No steamer? No problem. This method sees a whole bream gently steamed in a wok, raised out of the water by a wire rack (although some scrunched up tin foil, an empty can or all sorts of other things can act as a trivet).
Ingredients
- 1 sea bream, scaled and gutted
- 1 bunch of spring onions, roughly chopped, with a few finely julienned and kept in iced water to crisp up
- 1 bunch of coriander, chopped
- 500ml of fish stock, hot
- 100ml of light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp of Shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp of fish sauce
- 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 400ml of vegetable oil
- 150g of shallots, finely sliced
- 1 pinch of chilli flakes
- 2 garlic cloves, halved
- 1 knob of ginger, julienned
- 1 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
Method · 30 min
- Use a sharp knife to score 3 diagonal lines on each side of the bream. Season the fish all over and inside the cavity with salt, then stuff the cavity with the roughly chopped spring onions and coriander leaves (save some coriander to garnish)
- Put the fish on a heatproof tray or platter with a slight lip that’ll fit inside your wok. Put a wire rack (or some other base for the platter to sit on) in the wok, then put the tray/platter on top. Pour the fish stock in the base of the wok, ensuring the fish is raised out of it
- Whisk together the remaining ingredients for the fish. Set the wok over a low-medium heat, pour the soy mixture over the fish, then cover with a lid or foil. Leave to steam for 8-10 minutes
- While the fish cooks, make the spring onion oil. Heat the oil in a saucepan until it’s around 170°C. Carefully add the remaining ingredients and then remove from the heat and leave to infuse, stirring regularly, until the bream has finished cooking
- Very carefully lift the platter out of the wok. Dress the bream with the infused oil, top with fresh spring onion and coriander, then serve
