As part of Fish For It’s Lockdown Cook-Off Challenge, we cooked this beautiful Tiger Coral Grouper (Kelawi 花面斑).
A beauty to behold
This wild-caught fish from the coasts of Sabah is such a beauty. It’s instantly eye-catching with its radiant red coat, and streaks of translucent blue stripes lining its head – which gives the fish its unique name.
In fact, the fish paired so well with our bright red tomatoes!
Cantonese meets Teochew
We cooked this fish in our “Kung Chew” style – which is a combination of Cantonese (Kung-Fu) and Teochew styles.
Check out this post on how we came up with this dish. (For the uninitiated, kung chew means banana in Cantonese).
We really enjoyed the grouper. Personally, we think steaming is the best way to enjoy fresh fish. The grouper was really fresh with no fishy smell (bau hanyir). We enjoyed its chunky and flaky flesh, with a natural sweetness that absorbed the flavours of the gravy well.
Our “Kung Chew” fish is essentially a Teochew-style dish without the pickled veggies. However, you still get a hint of sourness from the tomato, as well as extra protein from tofu and chicken slices. The Cantonese influence comes in with the soy-based sauce and garnishes of cut ginger, scallion and coriander.
Easy does it!
It’s really easy to cook this dish:
1. Clean and arrange fish in steaming dish with tomatoes, tofu and ginger.
2. Cook chicken and gravy.
3. Pour chicken and gravy over fish, and steam.
4. Garnish and enjoy!
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Key steps in Pictures
Marinate chicken
Arrange tofu blocks, tomato and ginger
Pour gravy and chicken over fish
Kung Chew Steamed Tiger Coral Grouper [Recipe]
Course: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes20
minutesOur steamed fish recipe combining Teochew and Cantonese styles.
Ingredients
650g fresh tiger coral grouper (or any fish)
250g tofu, cut into cubes
1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
3-inch ginger, julienned
dash of white pepper
salt to taste
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
150g chicken breast, sliced thinly (marinated with 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil and dash of pepper)
1-2 tbsp cooking oil
- Sauce mix
5 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
pinch of sugar (or rock sugar)
6 tbsp water
- Garnish
1 stalk of scallion, cut 3-inch lengthwise into thin strips
coriander leaves
Directions
- Prep fish in steaming bowl
- Clean fish thoroughly, pat dry and make slits across the flesh (especially at the thickest parts) on both sides. Rub the fish with some salt on both sides and within the belly. Do the same with white pepper. Place the fish in the steaming dish.
- Arrange the tofu and tomato wedges around the fish. Place the sliced ginger on the fish.
- Marinate chicken
- Marinate the chicken slices with the marinade ingredients. Set aside.
- Cook chicken and gravy
- Heat up cooking oil in pan. Fry the garlic until fragrant and add the chicken slices. When chicken is cooked, add the sauce mix. When it starts to boil, turn off the heat.
- Pour the gravy on the fish and around the fish in the steaming bowl. Scatter the chicken slices around the fish.
- Steam fish
- Boil some water in the wok/steamer. When it starts to boil, place the fish on a trivet inside the wok. Cover and steam the fish for 10 minutes (or until it is cooked – it is ready when flesh separates easily from the bones).
- Remove when done, and garnish with scallion and coriander leaves. Enjoy while hot!
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