Cantonese Steamed Fish is one of the recipes that I love to order whenever I’m in a Chinese restaurant. The fresh fish, the infusion of aromatics, and the tasty sauce may sound simple, but the combination creates one of the best dishes I would make again!
This recipe is a collaboration with my good friend Chef Wallace, a world-renowned professional Six Pack Chef! He taught me how to make this amazing dish along with his tips & tricks to make this dish successfully!
Whole Steamed Fish are usually served during the Chinese Lunar New Year. This is a cultural symbol of wealth and good fortune with the saying that goes “Nian Nian You Yu”. There are two different characters pronounced as “Yu”–one of them means fish, and the other means abundance, thus the fish became a symbol and the saying declares “abundance year after year”.
While this dish is very symbolic, it is actually very simple to make, extremely customizable, and perfect for a quick and healthy dinner.
What You’ll Need
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The Best Fish to Steam
You can use any fish in this Chinese-style steamed fish recipe. Some of Chef Wallace’s recommendations include:
- Stripe Seabass
- Tilapia
- Grouper
- Cod
- Halibut
- Any seafood like Shrimp, Scallops, and Lobsters
Whole or fillet are both ok. For this recipe though, to give it a Korean touch, we used Yellow Croaker.
How to Choose Fresh Fish in the Market?
The most important thing to note about this recipe is to get fresh fish if available as they yield the best results. Although you can also use frozen or filleted fish, make sure that you are getting good quality, not one that has been frozen for a long time.
Things that you need to note when you’re in the market are:
- Eyes should be clear, not cloudy, with dark pupils.
- The gills should be bright red.
- Scales should not be falling off when you touch it.
When you buy fresh fish, ask the vendor to degut and clean the blood as it turns bitter and leaves an odor when you cook it.
Essential Ingredients: Aromatics
- Scallions – This is an essential ingredient for a fresh, mildly sweet flavor that will complement the fish and the sauce.
- Ginger – This is equally an essential ingredient for a fresh, spicy flavor that will help reduce any fishy taste or odor. Use fresh ginger for maximum flavor–it should have smooth skin. Old and wrinkly skin means they are old and dry already.
- Red Pepper – Optional, if you want it spicy.
Simple Steamed Fish Sauce
- Soy Sauce – For the savor and umami, this is the base of the sauce.
- Sugar – For a contrasting sweetness to the soy sauce.
- White Pepper – The spice that will also reduce the fish taste and elevate the sauce.
- Neutral Oil – The agent that will bring out the flavor of the aromatics that will infuse with the soy sauce.
Bamboo or DIY Steamer
To cook the fish, use an electric or bamboo steamer. If you don’t have one, create a makeshift steamer using a deep pot. Place a heatproof bowl or circular rack in the middle of the pot, and place the plate of fish on top. When you put 2-3 inches of water in the pot the plate should simply be elevated and will not touch fish.
Furthermore, for any kind of steamer used in this dish consider the size of the plate and you must be able to fully close the steamer.
How to Cook Cantonese-style Steamed Fish?
Prepare the Ingredients
- Slice the scallions into 3-inch long pieces, stack them, and chop them into thin strips.
- Peel the ginger using a spoon or the back of your knife then slice them paper-thin, stack them, then chop them into thin matchstick sizes.
- Combine soy sauce, sugar, and white pepper. Mix until the sugar is dissolved, then set aside.
- Clean the fish thoroughly, season with salt and white pepper on all sides and inside, then place on a plate.
Expert tip: Chop all aromatics in very thin matchstick sizes so that when they cook and turn soft, it is perfectly edible without being too overpowering. This is probably one of my favorite parts of the dish!
Assemble the Fish to Steam
- Once all the ingredients are prepared, you can now assemble the fish by placing it on the plate, and then putting the sliced scallions and ginger on top of it.
Steam the Fish
- Place the fish on the steamer and cover. Let it cook for 8-10 minutes. A great tip that Chef Wallace shared with me is that for every inch of thickness, it’s about 5-8 minutes of steaming time for the fish. Ours was about 1.5 inches, so we cooked this for about 8 minutes.
- Use a chopstick and poke through the thickest part of the fish to check if it’s done. The chopstick should go through without any resistance. Add about 1-2 minutes of steam time when it’s not yet done.
Expert tip: When you open the steamer, open it away from you so the steam goes the other way and not to your face, just like when you’re frying!
Heat Up Oil and Sauce Up the Fish
- In a separate pan, heat up the oil until there’s white smoke coming from it. Make sure it is hot hot before pouring on onto the fish.
- Remove the fish from the steamer, add the rest of the ginger and scallions, and pour the sauce on top.
- Afterward, pour the hot oil to infuse all the fresh taste from the aromatics. Oooh! Be careful because this is extremely hot!
Debone the Whole Steamed Fish
- Slice the middle part of the fish.
- On the meaty side, cut the meat connecting to the head.
- Slide your chopsticks through under the fish, just above the gills.
- Slide the chunk of flesh to the side. Do the same for the other side, just below the belly.
- Remove the gills on both sides.
- Cut the tail and lift the bottom of the fishbone to separate from the flesh, then remove the fishbone entirely.
- Remove the fish head and enjoy.
- Remove the belly and enjoy.
- Eat the filleted fish with all the aromatics.
What to Serve with Cantonese Steamed Fish?
Serve and consume this while it’s fresh and hot for optimal taste!
In a Chinese restaurant, you usually order this with other dishes like cold cuts, vegetable stir fries, noodles, and/or fried rice, but you can simply serve this with just steamed rice. Drizzle all that sauce on the rice, suck the fish eye and head, top the fish meat with the aromatics–this is the perfect easy but indulgent meal!
Other Chinese-origin dishes you might like:
- Jjajangmyeon (Black Bean Noodles)
- Jjampong (Spicy Seafood Noodles)
- Kkanpunggi (Spicy Garlic Fried Chicken)
- Tangsuyuk (Sweet and Sour Pork)
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Cantonese Steamed Fish
Equipment
- Steamer Electric, Bamboo, or Makeshift
Ingredients
- 1 pc Yellow Croaker Fish Degutted and washed
- Salt To season
- White Pepper To season
- 1 stalk Scallions Sliced to thin matchstick sizes
- Small knob Ginger Sliced to thin matchstick sizes
- 1 pc Red Pepper Sliced to thinly
Steamed Fish Sauce
- 3-4 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- White Pepper To taste
- 3 tbsp Neutral Oil Vegetable, Canola, etc
Instructions
- Make the sauce by combining soy sauce, sugar, and white pepper. Mix until dissolved and set aside.
- Chop the scallion, ginger, and pepper into thin matchstick sizes. Set aside.
- Clean your fish thoroughly, then place it on a plate.
- Season all sides and the inside of the fish with salt and white pepper.
- Place half of the scallions, ginger, and pepper on top of the fish then steam for 8-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat up the oil until there is white smoke coming out.
- Once done steaming, remove the fish from the steamer, pour the sauce throughout the fish and place the rest of the aromatics on top.
- Pour the hot oil from the head to the tail of the fish and through the aromatics to infuse everything together.
- Serve hot with a fresh bowl of rice and enjoy!
Love steam fish
So easy yet so tasty!