-I dust off my wok to steam a fish

Steaming Fish

A wok is supremely versatile. Outside of Asia, Westerners typically only know of stir frying. A wok can stew, pot roast, smoke and steam.  A Chinese home cook, making do, needs no other cooking pot.

Woks are robust. Nigh on indestructible. If like me, you don’t use it that often, you can scrub it up, oil it and re-season. A wok is low maintenance. No more trouble than non-stick pans, where you either have to try and gently care for the non-stock surface or suffer its erosion.

Finding myself back as some time chief cook of the family, I’m dusting off recipes and techniques from a time when I cooked more often. I’m still focused on swift and easy to prepare meals. It may surprise you to know that this steamed fish dish takes 15 minutes to prepare and cook.

What triggered the dish was walking past our local fishmonger. We’re making an increased effort to shop local and within walking distance where possible. This was before full lock down.

I used to love looking at fish, seafood shops and markets. The old fish market in Tokyo still remains an abiding memory from years ago. My 8 year old, O and I were walking past the fishmonger. Much like I used to with my parents. I tempted him in to look at the fish and suggested we buy one to cook. We looked for fresh, bulging, glossy eyes, bright gills and shiny skin. We ended up with a whole sea bream of a size that fits in a wok or two small sized hand spans.

The fishmonger guts and descales the fish, although it’s not too bad to do at home.

At home, we brushed off the wok. We found 4 chopsticks. We had as we almost always do, some ginger, spring onions and soy. O cut 3 slashes in the fish either side. We inserted peeled, slices of ginger and in the cavity. Prep done.

We arrange the chopsticks to form a hash tag # shape on the base of the wok, so it can raise the fish a few centimetres off the bottom where the boiling water sits. We lay the fish on the chopsticks, when the water is boiling and cover the wok. Eight minutes later, the fish is steamed.

Wok steaming reminds me of my Mum cooking, my old Malaysia family home and distinctly Chinese cooking aromas.

To finish it off with a piece of theatre, slice the spring onions over the fish and pour hot oil over.

It crackles and splutters in a fun way, while softening the scallions and slightly tightening the fish skin.

I usually take a few table spoons of the fish water, add in a two tablespoon of light soy sauce and a splash of rice wine or mirin for a light sauce.

O wanted to eat it all. I managed to persuade him to share some. Yum. 

Steamed Fish, Chinese wok style

Ingredients

• 1 whole white fish (such as sea bream, sea bass or pomfret) cleaned with head and tail intact

• Fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into eight.

• Light soy sauce ( 2 table spoons or to taste)

• 1 tablespoon rice wine or mirin (marsala, or sherry, or can skip)

• 6 or so spring onions (scallions), typically white and light green parts only (but I don’t mind the darker parts), sliced into thin strips (can skip)

• Flavourless oil with a high smoking point eg groundnut (can skip)

Equipment

• Wok

• Trivet or 4 chopsticks

(A fish steamer works if you’ve ever bought one)

Prep

• Have gutted and descaled fish.

• Peel and slice ginger

• Make 2 to 3 slashes in the fish on either side.

• Insert ginger into slashes and in gut cavity.

• (I have done the dish skipping this. The ginger adds a slight spice tang, and if the fish is not super fresh also counters residual odors. The slashes helps identifying when the fish is cooked and helps the steam penetrate more fully, but the cooking is robust to this)

• Lay trivet or 4 chopsticks in the bottom of wok.

• Heat water until steaming.

• Slice the spring onions into thin sticks

Cooking

• Lay fish on trivet when water is boiling.

• Cover and steam for about 8 minutes. 

(You can check at 6 minutes. The fish eye will pop open and you can see the flesh is cooked through white when booked.)

• Remove fish to plate

• Take a ladle of residual water, add a tablespoon of mirin and two table spoons of light soya sauce to taste. You can lightly simmer for  1-2 minutes if you want to thicken the sauce.

• Place spring onions over fish.

• Heat two table spoons of oil, until hot but not smoking. 

• Pour oil over spring onions and fish at table for some theatrics. (Keep clear!)

• Add soy sauce mixture.

Serve with rice and greens.

Fuschia Dunlop on woks: https://firstwefeast.com/features/2016/10/how-to-cook-with-a-wok/woks

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