a cantonese classic: steamed whole fish

Cantonese steamed whole fish, both a must-have during Chinese celebrations and a weekly staple in our dinner rotations. Tender, flaky fish topped with fresh aromatics and lightly seasoned soy sauce make this a perfect pairing over rice!

Steaming a whole fish can seem intimidating, so I’m sharing my best tips from what to request from your fishmonger to how to prevent fishiness.

What type of fish should I use for steamed whole fish?

The most common type my family likes to steam is black bass (either large-mouth black bass or striped bass) because it’s the most common live fish they sell at local supermarkets here in San Francisco. It also has nice, firm and flaky flesh that makes it great for steaming!

Other options we go for are snapper, grouper, and tilapia (a widely accessible option) from the fresh (but not live) section of the supermarket.

The fresher the fish, the better! If your supermarket doesn’t have live, swimming fish but has fresh whole fish (ideally recently caught), look for one with clear, glassy eyes instead of murky, cloudy ones. Clear eyes are a good sign of freshness.

A fresh fish also shouldn’t smell unpleasantly fishy — if it does, it’s likely not fresh.

How do I clean and prepare a fish for steaming?

If you’re at a Chinese supermarket, you should be able to ask the fishmonger to clean the fish. For a Cantonese steamed whole fish, you want to ask them to clean it, but keep the head, tail, and fins on.

When they clean it, they should be slicing open the stomach to remove the guts as well as descaling the fish. If there are any egg sacs, they usually will leave that (because it’s edible)!

How do I prevent unpleasant fishiness in this dish?

Once you bring the fish home, there’s one more step to finish cleaning the fish. Any excess blood on the inside of the fish will contribute to fishy flavors, so you’ll want to remove that. You’ll usually find some blood along the inside of the spine and head.

Run the fish under some water and lightly scrape out the blood.

Some people also like to lightly marinate the fish in a bit of Shaoxing wine to help with fishiness.

And lastly, ginger will go a long way! We like to stick some slices in the belly (where the guts were removed) and also on top of the fish to combat any remaining fishiness.

You may also like these other recipes:

• Chinese steamed eggs with clams
• Cantonese steamed chicken and mushrooms
• Chinese steamed pork patty with preserved vegetables

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Cantonese Steamed Whole Fish

One of the most classic Cantonese dishes you'll find at holidays and celebrations, yet humble enough for the weekly dinner rotation. Flaky, tender steamed fish topped with fresh aromatics and a lightly seasoned soy sauce makes a perfect pairing over some rice!

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Prep Time 15 minutesmins

Cook Time 10 minutesmins

Total Time 25 minutesmins

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 2

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• 1-1.5lblarge mouth black bassstriped bass, snapper, grouper, or other fish of your choice
• 2-3tbspneutral oil

Aromatics:

• 2stalks scallions
• 5-6thin slices of ginger
• 2sprigscilantrooptional
• thin slices of red pepperoptional

Seasoning sauce:

• 2tbsphot water
• 2tbspsoy sauce
• 1/2tspsugar
• 1/4tspchicken bouillon powder

Instructions

• Request your fishmonger to clean the fish, but leave the head, fins, and tail on.
  1-1.5 lb large mouth black bass
• At home, check for any leftover scales by running a knife from tail to head multiple times. Clean and scrape any additional blood along the inside spine and head. Using a knife to run along the sides of the spine helps make this part easier to clean. Rinse well and pat dry.
• (Optional) Lightly score the fish 3 times. As the fish steams, the skin will naturally burst in some areas. The scoring gives the skin some room to expand during cooking.
• Place 2 slices of ginger in the belly, and the rest on top between each score.
  5-6 thin slices of ginger
• Prepare your steamer on medium high heat. Spread a bed of thinly sliced scallions on the plate for your fish, then place the fish on top. Place into the steamer.
  2 stalks scallions
• For a 1-1.5 lb fish, steam for about 8 minutes. Every steamer setup may vary by a few minutes. The fish is cooked when a chopstick pokes into the flesh without resistance and when it easily flakes off the bone.
• While it’s steaming, prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together.
  2 tbsp hot water, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 tsp chicken bouillon powder, 1/2 tsp sugar
• Once the fish is done cooking, carefully pour out the excess juice that has pooled on the plate.
• Top the fish with thinly sliced scallions, ginger, (and optionally red pepper and cilantro).
  2 sprigs cilantro, thin slices of red pepper
• Heat up neutral oil just until it starts smoking, then carefully pour it over the aromatics to release its flavors. Pour the seasoned soy sauce over the fish, and it’s ready to eat!
  2-3 tbsp neutral oil

Keyword cantonese steamed fish, steamed whole fish

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