Whole Steamed Fish with Ginger and Shallots

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

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