Teochew Steamed Whole Fish
Teochew styled steamed whole fish is one of the most distinguished Teochew cuisines. The flavours of are a combination of sweet, savoury, sour and spicy. The main ingredients that make this dish unique are the used of fermented mustard green (also called pickled/salted mustard green or ham choy), tomato, pork, tofu and salted plum.
- Prep time
- 1 hr
- Cook time
- 35 min
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1.3 kg medium red snapper (cleaned, gutted and descaled by your fishmonger)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 500 g skinless and boneless pork leg or pork tenderloin (trimmed and thinly sliced to about 1 inch pieces)
- 500 g firm tofu (drained and cut into 1 inch pieces)
- 150 g fermented mustard green (or pickled/salted mustard green, hum choy, thinly sliced)
- 3 spring onions (sliced into 1.5 inch lengthwise (white and green parts))
- 1 medium tomato (cut into wedges)
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- steamed basmati rice (to serve)
- 2 tablespoons gluten free light soy sauce
- 5 tablespoons gluten free plum sauce (or salted plum in brine)
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons medium dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon gluten free light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon medium dry sherry
- 1 teaspoons corn starch (or potato starch)
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- 1.5 inch ginger (peeled and cut into fine chopsticks)
- 2 sprigs coriander ((cilantro) including stems, roughly cut into 2cm (0.8 inch) lengthwise)
- 1 long fresh red chilli (deseeded and finely sliced)
Instructions
- 1
Heat up 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and stir-fry the garlic and ginger until lightly golden on low heat. Remove and set aside in a small bowl.
- 2
Combine pork with marinade in a medium bowl and mix well.
- 3
Heat up 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a non-stich frying pan and stir-fry and separating the pork pieces for about 2 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- 4
Combine the sauce prepared in a small bowl and mix well.
- 5
Make two diagonal cuts about 1.5 cm (0.6 inch) deep across the fleshy part of the fish on both sides.
- 6
Using a large deep porcelain plate, add and scatter ⅔ of the pork pieces, tofu and 100g (3.5oz) of fermented mustard green or pickled/salted mustard green into the bottom of the plate. Then add the fish on top of the pork and tofu.
- 7
Stuff the cut spring onions into the gut of the fish. Sprinkle white pepper on the fish. Scatter ginger and then 50g (1.8oz) of fermented mustard green or pickled/salted mustard green on top of the fish. Then add the rest of the pork pieces, tofu and tomato wedges to the sides of the plate.
- 8
Drizzle the sauce prepared over the fish.
- 9
Place a steaming rack in a large wok and fill the wok with one third full of water and bring to a boil.
- 10
Place the fish into the wok and steam for 25 to 30 minutes or until fish is cooked through. Steaming time depends on the size of the fish.
- 11
When fish is ready, drizzle the garlic and ginger oil on top of the fish and garnish with coriander and chilli.
- 12
Serve immediately with steam rice.