If this perhaps describes you, I’m hoping I can convince you to give whole-fish cooking a go, because I think you’ll fall in love with the method, this Chinese-style preparation in particular. The recipe, from Alana Kysar’s Aloha Kitchen, can be broken down as follows: It’s really fun to make and truly one of the most delicious recipes for fish I have every made. As suggested, I’ve been serving it with rice, which tastes especially good with the sauce. Before opening Aloha Kitchen, I would never have thought to make this dish at home. Steamed whole fish is something I often order out, because it’s consistently good. It’s also something I’ve always feared would never taste as good at home, one of those Chinese dishes that just tastes better, for whatever reason, in a restaurant. But Alana’s recipe has proven otherwise: it’s simple and delicious. I hope you give it a go. Incidentally, Aloha Kitchen is all about local Hawaiian food, which Alana describes as: “Creole cuisine built on the many influences of Hawai’i’s early immigrants.” These influencers include Hawaiians, Westerners, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Koreans, and Filipinos. The foods of these various cultures are reflected in the recipes in Aloha Kitchen, all of which will make you want to jump on an airplane immediately, hightail it to the first drive-in in sight, and order a plate lunch of loco moco, steamed rice, and mac salad. Meet you there? Perfect. Can’t wait. OK, back to the whole fish.
Why Cook Fish Whole?
Are you convinced? Will you give whole-fish cooking a go? Or are you already an adopter? PS: ALL the Fish Recipes right here. Here’s the play-by-play: Gather ginger, cilantro, scallions, and a hot chili, if you wish. Cut some of them coarsely for steaming… … and some finely for garnish. Stir together a simple sauce: soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, hot chili. For this recipe, a mild, white-fleshed fish is nice. I’m using Branzino. Make slits in the Branzino and stuff each with a coin of ginger and a slice of scallion. Prepare a steamer basket — I’m using a cooling rack — with cilantro, ginger, and scallions; lay the fish on top. Bring water to boil in a wok or other wide vessel. Lower in the fish. Pour 2 tablespoons of sake over top, then close the lid. Steam for about 10 minutes. Near the end of cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small pot until it shimmers. Transfer fish to a platter, and pour the hot oil over top first. Heat the soy sauce mixture in the now empty pot, and pour that over top, too. Garnish with slivered ginger and herbs. So good with rice. This is the recipe I use: Perfect Instant Pot Brown Rice. Alana Kysar’s Aloha Kitchen 5 from 5 reviews A few notes:
If you serve this with rice, get that going first. I’ve been making Perfect Instant Pot Brown Rice; just the rice part, not the dressing. You need a wide pot or pan with a lid for this recipe. The wide shape of the wok is nice because the cooling rack can rest higher up in the pan, allowing water to simmer beneath it without hitting the fish. A whole fish fits nicely inside it, too. Depending on the size of your fish, you will need to adjust the timing. I’ve been using Branzino, and each Branzino has weighed about 1.25-1.5 lbs. For this size fish, 9 to 1o minutes steaming is about right. For a 2-lb fish, cook for about 16-20 minutes. Alana calls for Moi or other mild, white-fleshed fish.
