Whole Steamed Fish with Ginger and Shallots

Name: Whole Steamed Fish with Ginger and Shallots
Ingredients: 1 Chinese cabbage leaf; good handful of coriander leaves; 3 shallots, left whole; ½ teaspoon sea salt; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 2 tablespoons light soy sauce; ½ cup fresh chicken stock; 2 tablespoons shao xing; 1 x 1 kg snapper, scaled and cleaned; 1 tablespoon castor sugar; 4 shallots with some green left on, finely shredded; 3 tablespoons peanut oil; 1 large knob ginger, cut into very fine julienne

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Simply Asian

By Neil Perry

Published 2000

About

Snapper is ideal for this dish, but many other fish work just as well: Try coral trout, red emperor, silver perch, or any other flaky white-fleshed fish.

It is important not to overcook the fish, and to get the balance of the sauce right so that it doesn’t overpower the more subtle flavours of the fish.

Ingredients

1 x 1 kg snapper, scaled and cleaned
1 Chinese cabbage leaf
3 shallots, left whol

Fish course

Method

Pat the fish dry with kitchen paper and put it onto a chopping board. With a sharp knife, make three diagonal slits into the meatiest part of the fish, then repeat this in the opposite direction to create a diamond pattern, which will help to cook the fish more evenly. Turn the fish and repeat the process on the other side. Put the cabbage leaf and whole shallots on the bottom of a heatproof bo