Season 20 of America’s Test Kitchen seems to be reinventing the wheel for the sake of reinventing the wheel. Case in point is this simple, yet flavourful recipe for steamed fish; ATK goes through some gyrations creating a foil sling to hold the fish and then wrapping the pan in even more foil. This presents two problems for me, it uses too much foil and the foil actually creates a barrier to the steaming ingredients. I created this dish the old fashioned way, en papillote, a tried and true envelope made of parchment paper and it worked perfectly. Although steamed fish can be boring, this one really brings it on so I would definitely recommend this as a dinner party main. It’s definitely a keeper.
Asian Inspired Steamed Whitefish
Please click here for the original recipe.
Serves 2 as a main.
Ingredients:
- 15 mL black vinegar
- 45 mL soy sauce
- 10 mL Chinese rice wine
- 7.5 mL toasted sesame oil
- 7.5 mL sugar
- 10 mL roasted garlic purée
- .5 mL ground white pepper
- 4 scallions
- 10 cm ginger, divided
- 200 g firm whitefish (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- a handful of fresh cilantro leaves
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 450° F.
- Combine the black vinegar, soy sauce, rice wine, toasted sesame oil, roasted garlic purée, sugar and white pepper and mix well. Set aside.
- Cut two scallions in about 2 cm pieces. Finely slice the other two scallions and set aside. Peel and cut 3/4 of the ginger into about 2 cm pieces and add to the cut scallions. Slice the remaining ginger into matchsticks, set aside.
- Line a baking pan large enough to hold the fish in a single layer with parchment (making sure there is enough parchment to enclose the fish). Add the scallions and the roughly chopped ginger to the centre of the parchment paper.
- Add the Fish on top of the scallion and ginger base, pour the sauce over the fish, allowing to pool below the fish.
- Bring up the sides of the parchment, to form a tent and fold and twist to seal and hold in place.
- Place the pan on the middle baking rack and steam until the fish reaches 125° F to 130° F.
- Meanwhile, heat 30 mL of vegetable oil in a small saucepan and fry the matchstick ginger until crispy.
- Serve on sticky rice garnished with the finely cut scallions and crispy ginger drizzled with the steaming broth.
Notes:
- Firm whitefish options are haddock, cod, tilapia, monkfish. We used cod in this recipe. It is important to use similarly thick pieces of fish so they steam evenly.
- I use this awesome wireless thermometer.
- This recipe would be beautiful sous vide.
Such a nice and simple dish! Love the Asian flavours in here
LikeLike
Hi Raymund, welcome to my blog!
LikeLike
Well it certainly looks good. I’ve made fish with a method like this one, but not with this particular recipe. It sounds delicious.
LikeLike
En papillote needs no improvement. It’s as delicious as it is aesthetic. And the results speak for themselves, especially paired with these Asian flavors. GREG
LikeLike
Steamed fish and Asian flavors are made for each other. Your recipe is simple and the flavors direct — perfection. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really fantastic. Why does fish and Asian flavors go so well together? but they do, no matter what the fish.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks fabulous, Eva. I’m a big fan of whitefish. Not generally a big fan of ATK, though. For me the problems you cite for Season 20 have more or less always been the case. And don’t get me started on their various “improvements” to classic Italian dishes… !
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love Asian flavors with fish and this sounds phenomenal! Such an easy dinner idea.
LikeLiked by 1 person