Chinese

Whole fish, even for many fish lovers, can be a hard sell. The head, the tail, the fins — I suppose it’s just a little too much?

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:

1. Steaming the fish — I’ve been using Branzino — on a bed of aromatics (ginger, scallions, and cilantro) with a splash of sake.
2. Making a sauce , a simple mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and hot chilies (if you wish).
3. Dressing the steamed fish with a few tablespoons of hot oil and the soy sauce mixture, which you heat up briefly as well. The sauce will sizzle upon meeting the steamed fish.
4. Showering the steamed fish with a final garnish of cilantro, scallions, and ginger.

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?

1. Texture. For one, cooking fish whole, regardless of the medium, is more forgiving. If you overcook a filet in the oven or on the stovetop or grill by a minute or two, it likely will be dry; a whole fish won’t. Steaming in particular keeps the flesh very moist. (That said, I will absolutely try the hot oil and sauce trick over grilled whole fish come summer.)
2. Heat retention . Like another favorite fish-cooking method, en papillote , the fish retains its heat. This method, which, as noted above, calls for pouring hot oil and sauce over the fish, gives the hot fish another blast of heat.
3. Ease. Cooking filets of fish on a grill or stovetop takes a bit of finesse and there’s always the risk of sticking. With steaming, there’s no such worry — no flipping, no sticking.

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

Description

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.

For the sauce:

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 hot chili, thinly sliced, optional

For steaming the fish:

• 1 whole fish, such as Branzino, about 1 – 1.5 lbs
• kosher salt and pepper
• 6 scallions, greens part only, cut into 2 -inch lengths
• one 3 -inch piece ginger, sliced crosswise into coins
• a few small handfuls of cilantro
• 2 tablespoons sake

For finishing:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or macadamia nut oil, if you can find it)
• 1 scallion, green part only, thinly sliced on the bias
• one 2 -inch piece ginger, peeled and julienned
• small handful of cilantro, finely chopped

1. Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, and chili, if using. Set aside.
2. Prepare the fish. Using a paring knife or chef’s knife, cut three or four 1-inch slits on each side of the fish through the skin to the bone. Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Season generously all over, inside and out, with salt and pepper to taste. Insert 1 piece of scallion and 1 coin of ginger in each slit. Stuff the fish with half of the remaining scallions and ginger. Stuff some cilantro into the cavity of the fish, too.
3. Prepare the steamer bed . Lay the remaining cilantro, scallions and ginger on top of a steamer basket — I use a cooling rack. Place the fish on the bed of aromatics.
4. Steam the fish . In a large wide pot, such as a wok with a lid, bring 2 inches of water to a boil over high heat. Carefully set the steamer basket inside. Pour the sake over the fish. Cover the pan. Reduce heat to medium or low, keeping the water at a simmer. Steam for 9-10 minutes (see notes above), until the flesh is opaque and easily flakes. Transfer the fish to a platter. Discard the aromatics.
5. Finish the dish. Heat the oil in a small sauce pan over high heat until it starts to fizzle. Pour the oil over the fish. Return pan to burner and pour in the soy sauce mixture. Heat the sauce until it bubbles up — this will happen nearly instantaneously. Pour the sauce over the fish. Scatter the scallions, ginger, and cilantro over top. Serve with bowls of steamed rice.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Steaming
• Cuisine: Chinese

Description

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.

For the sauce:

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 hot chili, thinly sliced, optional

For steaming the fish:

• 1 whole fish, such as Branzino, about 1 - 1.5 lbs
• kosher salt and pepper
• 6 scallions, greens part only, cut into 2 -inch lengths
• one 3 -inch piece ginger, sliced crosswise into coins
• a few small handfuls of cilantro
• 2 tablespoons sake

For finishing:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or macadamia nut oil, if you can find it)
• 1 scallion, green part only, thinly sliced on the bias
• one 2 -inch piece ginger, peeled and julienned
• small handful of cilantro, finely chopped

1. Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, and chili, if using. Set aside.
2. Prepare the fish. Using a paring knife or chef’s knife, cut three or four 1-inch slits on each side of the fish through the skin to the bone. Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Season generously all over, inside and out, with salt and pepper to taste. Insert 1 piece of scallion and 1 coin of ginger in each slit. Stuff the fish with half of the remaining scallions and ginger. Stuff some cilantro into the cavity of the fish, too.
3. Prepare the steamer bed . Lay the remaining cilantro, scallions and ginger on top of a steamer basket — I use a cooling rack. Place the fish on the bed of aromatics.
4. Steam the fish . In a large wide pot, such as a wok with a lid, bring 2 inches of water to a boil over high heat. Carefully set the steamer basket inside. Pour the sake over the fish. Cover the pan. Reduce heat to medium or low, keeping the water at a simmer. Steam for 9-10 minutes (see notes above), until the flesh is opaque and easily flakes. Transfer the fish to a platter. Discard the aromatics.
5. Finish the dish. Heat the oil in a small sauce pan over high heat until it starts to fizzle. Pour the oil over the fish. Return pan to burner and pour in the soy sauce mixture. Heat the sauce until it bubbles up — this will happen nearly instantaneously. Pour the sauce over the fish. Scatter the scallions, ginger, and cilantro over top. Serve with bowls of steamed rice.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Steaming
• Cuisine: Chinese

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2019/03/28/chinese-style-steamed-whole-fish-with-ginger-and-scallions/

Shortly after Marisa McClellan’s third book, Naturally Sweet Food in Jars , was published, I intended to write about her apple butter recipe, which I had made and loved. I had also intended to post about it last fall, when I made it again, spooned it into jars, processed them, and miraculously found myself with a couple of nice-sized jars to gift as well as a small one to enjoy for myself.

I brought one jar with me to Connecticut for the holidays, where it was very well received — we broke it out every morning to spoon into oatmeal or spread across toast and eat with scrambled eggs. It was such a treat to have on hand.

Unlike many fruit butters, this one is sweetened exclusively with dates. It’s one of 100 recipes in Marisa’s book that is sweetened, as you can infer from the title, naturally .

As is the case for many canners, Marissa’s preserving journey didn’t begin with natural sweeteners but rather with cups and cups of granulated sugar, which reliably made the jam set and retain its color. When she realized, however, she didn’t feel good about regularly eating all that sugar, she began experimenting with different sweeteners: honey, coconut sugar, maple, agave, fruit juice concentrates and dried fruits. Yes, she was still using sugar, but it was less refined.

She soon discovered that the resulting jams, pickles, and fruit butters, despite their softer set and shorter shelf life, were better: tastier, more nuanced in flavor, and more welcome in her regular diet than the white sugar-heavy preserves she had been making for years.

As this is then only apple butter I have ever made, I can’t make any insightful comparison to sugar-sweetened fruit butters, but I can vouch for its deliciousness. And like the apple chutney , from Marisa’s latest book , this recipe will be relied on heavily next fall when we inevitably will return from the orchard with an ambitious haul of apples in tow.

Here’s the play-by-play: Gather 3 lbs. apples.

Cut them up, through the core and all.

Place them in a pot with some dates and water.

Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Pass them through a foodmill.

Season the purée with cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and vinegar.

Transfer the mixture to a 9×13-inch pan.

Cook for 1.5 to 2 hours.

Purée until smooth.

Transfer to jars. Process if you wish.

Description

From Marisa McClellan’s Naturally Sweet Food in Jars

If you’d like more details on sterilizing jars and preparing a water bath for canning, view this post on Food in Jars .

• 3 lbs. (1.4 kg) apples
• 12 ounces ( 340 g ) Medjool dates, pitted
• 1 cup ( 240 ml) water
• 1/4 cup ( 60 ml) fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• nice flaky sea salt

1. Cut the apples, cores and all, into chunks, and heap them into a large, nonreactive pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the dates and water.
2. Place over high heat, cover, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and simmer until the apples are tender enough to crush with the back of a wooden spoon, about 20 minutes. While the fruit cooks, preheat the oven to 300ºF/150ºC.
3. Fit a food mill with its finest screen, position it over a large bowl, and mill the apple mash, along with all the liquid. You’re done when all that’s left in the mill is a pile of seeds and skins.
4. Stir the lemon juice, vinegar, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the apple mash, scrape it into a shallow baking dish, and place in the oven. Roast the apple mash for 1.5-2 hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes ( or not… I don’t stir ). It’s done when you no longer see liquid separating from the fruit.
5. If you wish to can the apple butter, while it bakes, prepare a boiling water bath, and sterilize three half-pint jars.
6. Remove the pan from the oven. Scrape the butter into a food processor and purée until smooth. Taste. Add a sprinkling of sea salt if you wish. Purée again. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary with more salt or lemon to taste.
7. Spoon the hot butter into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch (12 mm) of headspace. Use a wooden chopstick to dislodge any trapped air bubbles. Add more butter to return the headspace to 1/2 inch (12 mm), if necessary. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
• Category: Condiments
• Method: Stovetop/Oven
• Cuisine: American