May 15, 2007
Steamed Fish Teochew Style
Steamed fish, Teochew style is typically done with the simplest of ingredients - shredded ginger, pickled sour plums, mustard greens (salted vegetable), sliced shitake mushrooms and garnished with green onions. However, being a pork lover, I could not resist adding in a bit of minced pork to add more juice and flavor to the fish gravy.
Although I am a Teochew, I am shy to say that the only dishes I am familiar with, off the top of my head, are Teochew Steamed Fish, Teochew Porridge (Congee) and Or Nee (Yam Paste).
Amy Beh from Kuali has a great Teochew-Style Steamed Fish recipe. What I have below has a few more ingredients.
Ingredients (Serves 2):
- 1 pomfret (you can also use garoupa fish)
- 1 tbsp ginger, shredded
- 1 stalk spring onions, shredded
- 1/4 lb (or less) minced pork, seasoned with salt, pepper and corn starch
- 2 shitake mushrooms (I used dried ones, so I soaked them in warm water before slicing them up)
- 1 tomato, cut into wedges
- 1/4 lb preserved green mustard, cleaned and shredded
- 2 preserved sour plums (I used a Japanese brand preserved plums that are red in color)
Seasoning for fish:
- 1/2 tsp salt
- a few dashes white pepper
- 1/2 tsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine or shaoxing wine
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 pc chicken stock dissolved in 1/2 bowl warm water
Garnish:
- 1 stalk spring onions, shredded
- 1 red chilli, shredded
Preparation and Cooking Method:
1. Wash fish and pat dry. Make a few slits on each side of the fish. Rub lightly with salt, pepper and corn starch. Remember to do this within the fish stomach as well. Then stuff a few shreds of ginger and spring onions into the slits and fish stomach.
2. Heat up 1-2 tbsp oil. Add in shredded ginger, pork and mushrooms and stir fry until fragrant, then add in the rest of the ingredients and seasoning and bring to a boil.
3. Arrange fish on a steaming tray and pour mixture from (2) over the fish.
4. Steam over high heat for 12-15 minutes or until cooked. Garnish with shredded spring onions and chilli.
Cook’s Note:
- According to Amy, when the eyes of the fish has popped out, this is an indication that the fish is cooked.
- This Teochew Style Steamed Fish can be a bit salty becos of the presence of many salty ingredients like light soy sauce, fish sauce, chicken stock and preserved green mustard. You may wish to omit the chicken stock and just use plain warm water.
Bite This!
More recipes:
How to flavor up leftover fish
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May 15th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Erm…where’s the silken tofu? Restaurants in Malaysia which serve this dish also has cubes of silken tofu amongst the ingredients. Must add lots of chinese parsley as well ;)
May 15th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
My mom used to make this for me all the time. I haven’t had this dish in over 16 years! I’ll have to ask her to make it when I go visit her.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
PP:
Hubby dun like tofu lei…:)
Hey Jaden, as for me, I’ll get my mom to make stewed pork belly in a bun(kong ba pau) for me when she comes over. Woo HOO!
May 15th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
“when the eyes of the fish has popped out, this is an indication that the fish is cooked” - does this mean the fish is half cook when only one eye pops out?
May 15th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
No. It means the fish has a lazy eye.
May 16th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Other than the heapful of ground pork, this is what I eat back in Sg too at my parents’. But they seldom use pomfret coz we always “complain” it’s high cholestrol for them (not us…)…hee heee. I think some Teochew steamed fish use just a few slices of very thinly cut pork belly in place of the ground pork.
May 16th, 2007 at 8:57 am
!!! Pomfret has high cholesterol?!?! Really? OMG :O
Yeah you are right… some Teochew Style Steamed Fish recipes call for pork belly, which I did not buy cos you know ler… we gotta buy humongous pcs here.
May 16th, 2007 at 9:00 am
Gee, lady, how many ways are there to steam a fish? You’re eating so healthy. I think I need to give you some ice cream. ;)
May 16th, 2007 at 9:24 am
yes yich, pomfret has high cholesterol.
like tigerfish, my mum cooks this without the meat.
May 16th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Pomfret does not have high cholestrol. And the fats that are in fish are omego-3, which is good for the brain.
From nutrition.com.sg
White pomfret has 30 mg per 100 grams, cod has 62 mg, tilapia and salmon has 68 mg, and sole has 78 mg. That is not particularly high when you compare that to 300 mg of cholesterol in 1 medium egg, or other meats such as beef, pork or poultry which contains 80-120 mg cholesterol per 100 grams.
May 16th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Hi Chopsticks, there is only ONE way to steam fish - put in the steamer kekeke… but there are many ways to get different sauces and taste out of the steamed fish :) Oh. And thanks for that website reference. That was my favorite website years ago when I was watching my diet (cos it has a lot of info on Singaporean food and their calorie amount).
KM:
I definitely increased the cholesterol by adding minced meat!
May 16th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Your steamed fish looks so colourful! I’m always too lazy to clean the fish!
May 17th, 2007 at 12:21 am
Ah Fook finally has a blog.
How is teh mama and the baby doing?
Due soon? or out in the happy world already?
http://singaporephilosopher.blogspot.com/
May 17th, 2007 at 7:37 am
W&S:
Eh… I’ll ask the fish seller to clean and scale the fish for me. If the tail is in the way, he even offers to cut it off for me!
Mamafess:
Trouble is brewing and my world will be different in mid-June.
Uh-oh - Is Ah Fook’s blog gonna be cheong-heh? He’s a philosopher after all :)
May 17th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
I love steam fish, especially this type of fish. Yummy!
August 29th, 2007 at 1:56 am
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April 26th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Thanks for the post. Just to let you know, I found a website, www.tcfaces.com for those Teochew people abroad that want to meet and unite with other Teochew.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
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