Chinese Steamed Fish

5 from 4 votes

Tender and juicy Chinese steamed fish just like in the Chinese restaurants! This fragrant, mild, and healthy recipe is way easier to prepare than you think. Whole fish or fish fillets work amazingly! No worries if you don't have a steamer because we've written out the alternative method which is oven-steamed, that gives equally tender and juicy steamed fish.

Prep Time5

Cook Time12

Servings: people

Author: Bea & Marco

Ingredients

Fish

1 lb bone-in whole sea bream or white fish fillets , prepped

Sauce

¼ cup less sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon white pepper

Garnish

2 thumb sized ginger , julienned
some spring onion , julienned
1 chili , sliced

Other

3 tablespoon oil , preferably mild flavored with high smoke point

Instructions

Fish

Prepare your steamer. We're using a wok. Place the steamer rack in, followed by water just until 1 inch before touching the rack. Bring the water to a boil and place the whole fish or fish fillets on a heatproof serving plate, on the rack. Cover and steam for 10-12 minutes.
Once the fish is cooked, carefully remove it from the steamer and discard the steam water in the plate.

Sauce And Garnish

While the fish is steaming, add soy sauce, mirin, sugar, white pepper, and toasted sesame oil in a bowl. Mix well. Slice ginger, scallion (or spring onion), and chili thinly, and set aside.

Assemble

Pour the sauce on the steamed fish. Place the ginger, scallion, and chili on top. Heat oil in a pot until it's very hot, and then pour on top of the trimmings and watch them sizzle! Serve immediately with some rice. Enjoy your Chinese steamed fish!

Oven-Steam Method

Place the whole fish or fish fillets on a large parchment paper, on a baking tray. Fold the paper in half, fold the sides upwards, and secure them. We love to do it with a paper stapler! Place in a preheated oven at 430ºF (220ºC), on the middle rack, for 8-10 minutes, or until the fish is fully cooked. Carefully open the parcel, place the steamed fish on a serving plate, and follow the recipe instructions for the sauce, garnish, and assemble.

Notes

Use a heatproof serving plate to steam. This prevents it from melting, bending, or cracking with the hot steam. We love to steam the fish on a serving plate so we don't move the fish too much, and it also heats the plate!
To know when the steamed fish is done. The meat flakes easily when you push it with a fork. The meat and bones are also not transparent in color. It usually takes around 10-12 minutes. Our whole fish is around 1-1 ¾-inch thick. Whole fish takes longer to cook than fish fillets. It also depends on the thickness.
Discard the steam water. It contains the impurities of the fish and doesn't taste good.
To get beautifully curled sliced scallion or spring onion. Put them in a bowl of cold water with ice! They will curl in 5-10 minutes, adding a unique touch to this Chinese steamed fish.
Make sure the oil is very hot. This will give you the amazing sizzling sound and effects when you pour the hot oil on top of the trimmings!

Nutrition