Steamed Fish, Steamed Maya Maya

Steamed Fish, Steamed Maya Maya. The last time I steamed a fish I used a real steamer and the fish was pre-pouched before steaming to cut the steaming time and get rid of the fishiness of the fish, click here to see that post of steamed tilapia. That dish was more of a home version, it was prepared without all those garnishing. Today I would like to share another version I made, steaming was done using a wok. This method was in fact combined the pouching and steaming process into one. I have also tried to add some garnishing similar to steamed fish serve at Chinese restaurants.

The cooking method is moderately easy. As I earlier mention I used a wok to cook the fish. The fish was pouched and steamed in a wok with some boiling water with ginger and spring onions. The fish has to be placed just above the water line to do the trick I used a steaming rack (which usually comes in your rice cooker box). The wok is then tightly covered with a big pan lid to steam. All the steaming water and steaming ingredients residue is to be discarded. For this recipe in addition to the soy sauce I also used dark Chinese rice vinegar for the sauce. Here is the recipe on how I steamed the fish.

Ingredients:

1 medium size maya maya or similar fish, cleaned, scaled
1 thumb size ginger, cut into slivers
2 thumb size gingers, peeled, cut into thin strips
1/2 small bundle spiring onion, cut into 2” length
1/2 small bundle spiring onion, cut into 2” length, then cut into thin strips
1/2 bundle Chinese parsley, removed from stem
2 tbsp. cooking oil
1/4 cup dark Chinese rice vinegar
1/4 soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
salt and pepper

Cooking procedure:

Wash fish and pat dry. Rub fish with salt and pepper then with half of the Chinese vinegar, keep aside. In wok pour about 2 cups of water then add in the sliced ginger and 2” lengths spring onion. Place the steaming rack on the wok making sure that it is just above the water line, add more water as necessary. Bring to a boil then place the fish on the rack. Place half of the garlic strips, spring onion strips and parsley on top of the fish. Cover wok with a large pan lid and let steam for 10 to 15 minutes. In the meantime blend the soy sauce, Chinese vinegar and 1/4 cup of water in a bowl and keep aside. Now transfer the steamed fish in a serving platter, discard the steaming water and all the steaming ingredients residue. In a small pan heat the cooking oil until it is smoking hot then pour over the steamed fish. Arrange the remaining garlic strips on top of the fish. Using the same pan simmer for about half a minute the soy sauce vinegar mixture and pour over the steamed fish. Garnish with the remaining spring onion strips and parsley, serve immediately with rice.