Steamed Fish with Ginger and Soy Sauce
Steamed Fish with Ginger, Scallion and Soy Sauce is a restaurant-quality dish you can easily cook at home in just 30 minutes. Serve this light yet flavorful dish with rice for a healthy and delicious meal.
Servings: 2 people
Calories: 314kcal
Ingredients
For the Fish
- 12-14 oz fish fillet with white flesh (skin-on)
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2-inch piece of ginger, julienned
- 4-5 scallion stalks, cut into short sections, then julienned/shredded
- 1 small onion, very thinly sliced (or half a medium onion)
- half a medium carrot, julienned
For the Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 small shallots, minced (optional)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (optional, to taste)
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place the fish in a shallow plate that can be used for steaming. Massage it with sesame oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Peel and julienne ginger and veggies as well as mince garlic, shallots and a small amount of ginger.
- Place a small pot over medium heat and add olive oil. Once the oil is heated, add minced shallots and garlic, stir and cook until fragrant. Then add minced ginger, also stir and cook briefly until fragrant. Pour soy sauce into the pot, add black pepper and 1/8 teaspoon of salt (to taste), stir and simmer for a few seconds. Transfer the sauce to a bowl.
- Prepare your steamer. Cover the plate of fish with foil and place inside the steamer and cook for 8-9 minutes.
- Open the lid of the steamer, then remove the foil from the plate. Pour the sauce over the fish fillet, then arrange all the julienned ginger, onion and carrots over it. Top with julienned scallions. Put the steamer lid back on (no need to cover the plate with foil this time), and continue to steam for another 4-6 minutes or until the fish is cooked through.
- Serve hot with rice. You can garnish with some cilantro if desired.
Video
Notes
My most favorite fish for steaming is grouper. Other types of fish you can use are red snapper, halibut, and cod. Not white fish, but salmon also works extremely well for this recipe.
You can also steam a whole fish. Some things to note are you will need a big steamer basket and a big plate to cook it. In addition, serving steamed whole fish can be difficult due to all the bones. When cooking steamed fish at home, my family prefers fish fillets.
If you want the veggies to be on the soft side, you can scatter the ginger, onion and carrot over the fish right from Step 4.
Some Vietnamese cooks like to add thinly sliced dried shiitake mushrooms that have been rehydrated. It does add an interesting earthy note.
Simmering the sauce on the stove before pouring over the fish (Step 3) brings out more aromas and flavors. With that said, when I'm short on time, I sometimes skip this step and just drizzle the soy sauce directly over the fish. The result is still pretty tasty.
You may need to adjust cooking time depending on the thickness of your fish. It usually takes me about 12 minutes to steam a 1-inch thick (or slightly more) fish fillet.
Nutrition
Calories: 314kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 534mg | Potassium: 744mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 239IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 2mg