Teo Chew Steam Fish

I never really enjoyed this dish in my earlier days, never knew why, until one day I decided we as a family should eat more fish. They are limited ways of cooking fish in my kitchen. I love them ‘fried till all the bones are crispy and can be eaten’ or curried or twice cooked as in my earlier posts.

I bought this wonderful fish at the market for RM10 and it has a thin red strip on the body just below the gills. Never seen this fish before but I trusted the guy who sold it. He said it can be fried or steamed. Guess what I did? I fried it and then steamed it … did both that. It has a chewy texture and very tasty. I shall never look at steam fish the same ever again.

Ingredients

grapeseed oil for frying
plain flour (to coat the fish lightly for frying)
2 slices old ginger
pinch of salt

3 Tbsp plum sauce
1 Tbsp of chopped garlic
1 stalk of leek (sliced slanted) or
2 leaves of cabbage (torn into bite-size pieces)
2 medium size red tomatoes (cut into wedges)
2 pieces of soft tofu (cut into small cubes)
1 small yellow capsicum (sliced into small pieces)
a sprig of spring onions (2 inches in length)
sea salt and white pepper to taste

Method

1. Fry the flour coated fish till slightly golden brown in grapeseed oil and ginger. Drain and leave aside on a steaming platter to cool.
2. In the same frying pan, add the plum sauce and chopped garlic. Stir a little and add approx. 5 Tbsp of water and a pinch of sea salt.
3. Put in all the prepared vegetable and lightly saute them. Pour all over the fish. Carefully place the tofu cubes over the vegetables and season with pepper.
4. Garnish the top with spring onions and steam the fish for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.