Thai: Steamed Fish with Garlic Chili Sauce

Recipe by Paul Young <info@cooking-with-paul.com>

(serves 2)

Fresh seafood is always abundantly available in Thailand. In western restaurants, premium white fish like red snapper or cod is often featured. But the Thai prefer barramundi (Asian sea bass), carp, or catfish, which are much cheaper and more widely available. Asians perfer serving the whole fish complete with head and tail, but fish fillets will also work for this recipe. You can dust the fish with flour and deep-fry it in oil, which will get you a nice crispy skin. But I prefer steaming my fish since it is healthier. Either way, what makes this dish distinctively Thai is the use of hot chili peppers and fish sauce. Asian essentials like garlic, ginger, and scallions round out the flavors. Kick it up a notch by also adding a little sweet and a little sour, and now you’ve got the ultimate Thai main course (also see video).

Ingredients:

• 1 whole fish, cleaned, scaled, scored (approx 2 lbs); or sub 2 fish filets (approx 8oz each); (firm-fleshed white fish preferred: sea bass, snapper, tilapia, swai, etc)
• Spray olive oil (optional)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup fresh ginger, julienned
• 1-2 fresh Thai Bird’s Eye chili pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped (or sub serrano pepper, thinly sliced)
• 1 tablespoon minced lemongrass (tender white part only, or sub the pre-minced frozen version available in the freezer section of your Asian grocery store)
• 1 cup sweet red pepper, julienned
• 1 bunch green onions (“scallions”), cut green part to 2-inch lengths, dice white part
• 2 tablespoons rice wine (or white wine)
• 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (“nam pla”)
• ½ cup Garlic Ginger Sauce
• ¼ cup water (if needed)
• Lime slices (for garnish)
• Fresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish)

Procedure:

1. Steam fish in steamer until done (approx 5 minutes), set aside
2. Or: bake fish sealed in aluminum foil at 400° for about 30 minutes (spray the inside bottom of aluminum foil with olive oil to avoid sticking)
3. In a large saucepan, saute ginger, peppers, and green onions (white part only) in olive oil briefly (approx 2-3 minutes)
4. Add rest of green onions, saute briefly until wilted
5. Add rest of the ingredients, bring temperature up to almost boiling
6. Transfer fish to serving plate, pour sauce over fish
7. Garnish with lime slices and cilantro, serve with rice

Note: Your fish monger will clean, gut, and scale your fish for you. I also ask them to remove the fins. For a better presentation, leave the head and tail intact.