[This recipe is one of our NINE Favourite Recipes of 2020. Check out the post here].
The gravy might look tame, but it packs a punch in terms of flavour! Expect a strong ginger-garlic taste with some heat from the cili padi, tauchu to provide a hint of savouriness, and Shaoxing wine to balance it out.
This is one of our favourite dishes from Max’s mom! When we asked her for the recipe – she told me to agak-agak (guesstimate).
Therefore, we also agak-agak when we cooked this recipe from memory. It turned out tasting quite similar to her dish – so we’re quite happy!
Thankfully for both yours (and our) sake, we’ve decided to commit the recipe to paper.
When researching, we couldn’t find many recipes similar to our mom’s. The closest dish is steamed fish with tauchu (fermented yellow beans) – but we find our mom’s recipe features the ginger more prominently with the tauchu as a sidekick. It’ super addictive!
KEY TIPS:
* Our recipe is for a 750g fish – please adjust sauce accordingly to your fish size.
* Our mom’s go-to-fish is tilapia, We used siakap which we bought from Fish For It! As always, it was fresh and perfect for steamed dishes like this.
* For maximum taste, we used 1/3 of the uncooked paste to marinade the slits and inside the fish cavity.
* To check if fish is cooked, use a chopstick to poke at the thickest part of the flesh. If it separates from the bone easily and the flesh is not translucent – it is ready. If not, let it cook for another 2-3 minutes (be careful, you do not want to overcook it).
* Garnish the top of the fish with some cut chilli before serving, if you like.
For step-by-step process and videos, check out our Instagram post here.
![Mom's steamed fish with ginger, garlic & tauchu [Recipe]](https://thokohmakan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/20200514194222_IMG_7507-683x1024.jpg)
Mom’s steamed fish with ginger, garlic & tauchu [Recipe]
Course: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: Chinese, MalaysianDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes25
minutesThe gravy might look tame, but it packs a punch in terms of flavour! Expect a strong ginger-garlic taste with some heat from the cili padi, tauchu to provide a hint of savouriness, and Shaoxing wine to balance it out.
Ingredients
750 grams fresh fish
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp Shaoxing wine (optional)
1/4 cup water
- Paste
2 garlic bulbs, minced
5-6 inch ginger, minced
1.5 tbsp tauchu
2 cili padi (bird-eye chilli), cut
- Garnish
Coriander leaves
Cut cili padi
Directions
- Prepare paste and sauce
- Pound the garlic, ginger, chilli and tauchu with a pestle and mortar.
- Heat up oil in pan, and saute 3/4 of the paste until fragrant. Add water, Shaoxing wine, and sesame oil. Add salt to taste.
- Marinade fish
- Clean fish thoroughly, pat dry and make slits across the flesh (especially at the thickest parts to ensure fish is cooked evenly). Place fish in steam bowl.
- Rub the fish with the 1/4 uncooked paste – make sure you rub in between the slits and inside the belly. Pour the cooked sauce over the fish.
- Steam time
- Boil water in the wok/steamer. When it starts to boil, place the fish inside the wok/steamer. Cover and steam over high heat for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, check if the fish is cooked by poking at the thickest part of the flesh with a chopstick. It is ready when the flesh separates from the bones easily. If it’s not ready, steam for another 2-3 minutes.
- When it is ready, garnish with coriander and cut cili padi. Serve and enjoy immediately.
Notes
- Our recipe is for a 750g fish – please adjust sauce accordingly to your fish size.
- Our mom’s go-to-fish is tilapia, We used siakap which we bought from Fish For It! As always, it was fresh and perfect for steamed dishes like this.
- For maximum taste, we used 1/3 of the uncooked paste to marinade the slits and inside the fish cavity.
- To check if fish is cooked, use a chopstick to poke at the thickest part of the flesh. If it separates from the bone easily and the flesh is not translucent – it is ready. If not, let it cook for another 2-3 minutes (be careful, you do not want to overcook it).
