Steamed fish with vinegar and soy

Steamed whole fish is often the centrepiece of a Chinese New Year celebration, and is believed to bring prosperity and abundance for the coming year. This method of steaming is not only speedy, it’s also all that is required to bring together the flavoursome sauce. For ease, I have adapted the approach to using fillets, but by all means go down the traditional route and use a whole fish instead, if you prefer. If you don’t have a steamer, just fry the fish and serve it with the sauce and aromatics.

Yotam Ottolenghi' in The Guardian – Jan 2023, Read the full article here.

The best tasting chinese steamed fish - use a very fresh, firm fillet for this recipe. Allow 30 mins for the prep- it's Yotam !

Planning

Prep 25 min

Cook 20 min

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

For the vinegar soy sauce

• 175ml rice-wine vinegar

• 80ml Shaoxing wine

• 75ml soy sauce

• 1 star anise

• 1 tsp fennel seeds

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tsp aleppo chilli

• 2 tbsp demerara sugar

For the steamed fish and vegetable

• 1 large leek (200g), dark green tops removed, the rest cut first into thirds and then into matchsticks

• 25g knob fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus 1 tsp extra to finish

• 4 x 90g skin-on sea bass, sea bream or red snapper fillets, each about 2½cm thick

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and julienned

• 10g coriander, leaves and soft stems

Put the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan with four tablespoons of water. Bring to a boil on a medium-high heat, then turn down to medium, simmer for 10 minutes, take off the heat and set aside.

Mix the leek with half the ginger, and put a wide, high-sided saute pan for which you have a lid on a medium heat. Add the oil and the leek and ginger mixture, and fry, stirring, for two minutes, until the leeks have softened but not coloured. Tip the mixture on to a lipped platter and put the pan back on the heat.

.Strain the infused sauce mix into the saute pan, then discard the star anise and scatter the remaining strained spices over the cooked leek. - Discard all the spices for a smoother finish.

Lay the fish fillets skin side down in an oiled steaming basket, cover and steam for three to four minutes, until the fish is opaque and cooked through.

Lift the steamer off the heat, then use a spatula and gently lift out the fish (peel off and discard the skin, if you like). Lay the fish on top of the leeks and pour the sauce all over the top. Serve hot with the reserved ginger, chilli and coriander scattered on top.