Chinese Twice Cooked Whole Fish Or Fillets Recipes

CHINESE STEAMED WHOLE FISH

Steps:

• Remove any scales from your fish using a serrated steak knife. The areas to look for are the belly and the edges of the fish including the top, near the dorsal fins, and the head. There is nothing worse than having to pick out scales while you're having dinner.
• Cut off any fins with kitchen shears. They are pretty tough, so be careful with this step. Leave the tail and head in tact for presentation.
• Look at the cavity, and you should see the backbone. You may also see a membrane that you should pierce and cut, revealing a blood line near the bone. Run your finger or a spoon across it to clean it thoroughly.
• Check the head and gills. You should not see any gills left, and if there are, remove them with the kitchen shears and rinse the area clean. Older Chinese folks who like dining on the fish head will appreciate this step.
• Give the fish a final rinse, shake off the excess water (no need to pat it dry) and transfer to a heat-proof plate for steaming. No salt, seasoning, or wine should be used on the fish before steaming. Repeat. Nothing on the fresh fish before steaming!
• For steaming, I used an elongated heat-proof plate. To accommodate that, I needed to MacGyver a steaming apparatus that would fit said plate. It's simple enough. I used a wok and metal steam rack. If you need more height to keep the plate above the water in the wok, set a rack on top of a metal can with both ends removed. It's a handy and cheap addition to your kitchen arsenal!
• Steam for 9 minutes and turn off the heat. Use a butter knife to peek at the meat and confirm the fish is cooked through. The meat should be opaque down to the bone, but the bone should be slightly translucent and not fully cooked (remember, you will not be eating the bone. Trust me on this one!).
• Next, carefully pour off all of the liquid accumulated on the plate from steaming and spread half of the ginger, the green portions of the scallion, and the cilantro over the fish.
• Mix the water, salt, sugar, light soy sauce or seasoned soy sauce, and fresh ground white pepper in a small bowl or measuring cup. Heat 2 tablespoons oil and the other half of the ginger in a saucepan until the ginger begins to sizzle and add in the sauce mixture. Heat the mixture until simmering.
• Once simmering, add the rest of the oil and white portions of the scallion and stir until the liquid begins to simmer and sizzle once again. Spoon the entire mixture evenly over the fish and serve hot!

CHINESE STEAMED COD FISH WITH GINGER SCALLION SAUCE

Steps:

• Slice the cod fillet into two equal weight pieces, ½ lb each fillet. Pat dry with a paper towel.
• Fold one piece of the parchment paper in half and place 1 fish fillet in the center and closer to the seam. Repeat with the other half of the fish.
• Season each filet with ¼ tsp coarse salt, 1 tbsp coconut aminos, and 1 tsp toasted sesame oil.
• To make a paper pouch: Fold the paper over so the two ends meet, enclosing the food. Beginning at either end of the center crease, make small, overlapping diagonal folds around the filling, pleating it all around to make a semicircular airtight package that looks like a half-moon shape calzone. Seal the packet tight. You might need to twist and fold the end tip to secure the envelope.
• If use air fryer: place 1 packet inside of the basket. Lightly press the paper pouch down so it won't get burnt. Air fry at 300F for 15 minutes or until the fish is soft and flaky. Test with a skewer, if it goes in easily, the fish is done. If not, air fry for 5 additional minutes. If your fish is thinner than 1-inch, reduce the cook time by 5 minutes.
• If use oven: Place both packets over a large sheet pan. Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until the fish is buttery soft. The exact bake time will depend on the thickness of the fish fillets and type of fish.
• In the meantime, finely chop ginger, scallions, and chili peppers. Divide them into 2 equal piles.
• When the fish is about 5 minutes away from ready, in a heavy bottom saucepan, heat up the avocado oil over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Cover the saucepan with a lid but leave a small gap open to allow air to come-in.
• Carefully remove the fish pouch. Let cool for 3 minutes before using a kitchen scissors to cut open the packet (be careful of the hot steam). Add the aromatics - ginger, scallions, and chilies - on top of the fillets and season with a pinch of salt.
• Carefully pour half amount of the hot oil over each fillet and the aromatics on top. Serve hot and immediately.

ASIAN GLAZED BAKED BARRAMUNDI (OR OTHER FISH)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Line a tray with parchment/baking paper. Place shelf in middle of oven.
• Cornflour slurry: Mix water and cornflour in a small bowl.
• Make glaze: Place remaining glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add cornflour slurry then stir well. Cook it for a further 2 minutes until it thickens into a thick paste - thick enough so it stays on the fish when brushed on. See photo in post or video. If it is just a thick syrup, it will slide off the fish.
• Brush glaze on Fish: Place fish fillets on tray. Dab/brush paste on on the top and sides.
• Bake then broil/grill: Bake fish for 15 minutes. Then flick to broiler/grill on high, and cook for 3 minutes to caramelise the surface. Target an internal temperature of 55°C/131°F for medium, which is just cooked but not raw at all. Fish temperature will continue to rise to 58°C/136.5°F during resting.
• Garnish: Remove from oven, transfer to serving plates and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with green onion, chillies and sesame seeds, as desired. Pictured in post with a side of Coconut Rice and cucumber with Asian Sesame Dressing.

SUPERIOR SWEET AND SOUR WHOLE FISH

Steps:

• Wash the fish and pat dry with paper towels. Cut three diagonal slits into each side of the fish. Set aside.
• Dice the coloured peppers into 2-cm cubes. Peel and slice the onion into thin wedges. Slice the tomato into 8 wedges.
• Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl.

CHINESE TWICE COOKED WHOLE FISH (OR FILLETS)

Steps:

• Grill or steam fish until cooked.
• Remove fish to glass baking dish or serving platter.
• Layer on fish in this order: ginger, garlic, parsley or cilantro, green onions.
• Heat 1/2 C olive oil and cube of butter.
• Pour over fish to ignite flavors throughout.
• Add a touch of soy sauce to finish.

SICHUAN BOILED FISH (SHUI ZHU YU, 水煮鱼)

Steps:

• Slice the fish fillet diagonally. Marinate with salt, white pepper, rice wine & corn starch.
• In a wok (or a deep frying pan), fry dried chilli and Sichuan pepper in oil over a low heat until fragrant (do not burn them). Chop coarsely when cooled. Set aside.
• In the same wok, heat up oil over a medium heat, stir in celery. Cook for 1.5 minutes or so (30 seconds if using bean sprouts instead). Transfer to a serving bowl. Set aside.
• Heat up oil in the wok, fry garlic, ginger and spring onion. Add Sichuan chilli bean paste and chilli powder. Pour in water (or chicken stock). Bring it to a full boil.
• Gently place the fish slices into the wok. When cooked, pour the fish and the soup onto the vegetable.
• Top with fried spices and coriander. Heat up oil then pour over to sizzle the spices. Serve immediately with plain rice.