STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE

Chinese Silver Pomfret (Dao Chior in Hokkien or 斗鲳 Dòu chāng in Chinese) is the quintessential fish for Teochew Steamed Pomfret. The fish can be identified by its diamond shape with dull silver, pewter coloured body. Teochew Steamed Pomfret is commonly served at the restaurants and Zhi Char stalls, and is one of my picks for the 7 Reunion Dinner Dishes That Will Wow Your In-Laws This CNY.

TRICK OF THE TRADE

This simple and healthy crowdpleaser can be whipped up in under an hour, and goes great with a bowl of piping hot steamed rice! There is no need to cook soup as the gravy in the fish doubles up as a tasty and healthy soup to go with the rice.

The pomfret must be very fresh, or the fishiness after cooking will totally ruin the whole dish, and no amount of Chinese wine or Brandy will be able to salvage the disaster. So before you rush out to the market, read my article on The 10 Things You MUST Know About Choosing the Freshest Fish to ensure that the fish you are geting is fresh!

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WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS DISH

It’s simple to make! It takes under an hour to make the dish, and with all steamed dishes, there isn’t alot of steps once you have prepared all the ingredients.
It’s also simple and clean tasting! No complex tastes for this one. Just the fresh taste of fish, and the accompanying ingredients help to cover the fishiness, as well as elevate the overall taste. Goes great with porridge!

HOW TO MAKE TEOCHEW STEAMED POMFRET?

Ensure that the fish is properly scaled and all traces of blood clots and innards are thoroughly removed and washed off. See my ‘6 Simple Steps to Scale and Clean Your Fish Like A Pro’ for more details.
Pat the inside and outside of the fish dry with a kitchen towel.
Slant the knife against the fish’s body and make two deep cuts across ( about 2″ apart) and on both sides of the fish ( in the direction of the fin towards the stomach).
Insert the wedged tomato into the slit.This allows the inside of the fish to be evenly cooked. Then place the fish on a stainless plate with deep sides.
Wash the tomatoes, spring onion, ginger, pork fat, sour plum and mushroom.
Soak the mushroom in hot water for 30 mins.
Remove the mushroom stalk and cut into 3 big slices. Cut the spring onion into 2 inches lengthwise. Remove the skin from the ginger and cut into 4-5 slices.
Cut the fat in big, thin slices.
Cut the kiam chye into thick slices and soak in warm water (enough water to cover just above the kiam chye) and soak for 15mins. Squeeze dry and set aside.
Lightly mash the sour plum.
Place the ginger slices, kiam chye, mushroom, sour plums including the seed, pork fat, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp soya sauce and the rest of the tomato with the fish. Chilli may be added if you prefer.
Add in 2 bowls of boiling water to the fish.
In a wok, add enough water to cover the rack and boil over high heat.
When it’s boiling, put the fish on the rack and cover it and steam for about 8 mins over high heat.
Turn off the heat and put the spring onions on top of the fish.
In a small pan, add 1 TBsp of oil and heat up till very hot, pour over the spring onion.
Add sesame oil and 1 TBsp of Hua Tiao Chiew, pepper and salt to taste.
Before serving scoop the soup over the fish a few times so that the salt, oil, sugar, soya sauce will be evenly distributed. Serve Hot.

MARKETING TIPS

Do not buy frozen fish for steaming. They are only good for deep frying.

COOKING TIPS

Add thinly sliced ginger to the fish before steaming to help to mask the fishy smell. The ginger must be thinly sliced to give a more fragrant aroma
Once the fish is steamed, immediately place the spring onions on top of the fish and pour very hot oil over it. As you do, you will find the hot oil brings out a wonderful fragrance from the spring onions as well as the fish.
Pour 1 TBsp Hua Tiao Chiew or Brandy over the fish and serve immediately if you prefer. Its best to do this when the fish has just been removed from the heat to maximise the fragrance and flavours of the wine.

STEAMING TIPS

Do NOT oversteam! 7-8 minutes for pomfret of 400-500gm (provided that there is enough water to cover the top of the steaming rack, and a stainless plate is used) is sufficient. The 2 bowls of water added to the fish must be boiling hot or the cooking time will be different.
An extra 2-3 minutes of steaming may be required if you use porcelain or oven-proof ware.
Make sure the water in the wok does not overflow into the plate when it is boiling, otherwise the soup will have more water than necessary and it will be tasteless.
During steaming, try not to open the cover. Otherwise the sudden drop in temperature will change the cooking time of the fish.
Steam the fish only when the dinner is ready to be served as the fish takes less than 10 mins to steam. Once the fish turns cold, it is not as delicious.
Remove the wok cover after steaming or it will continue to cook. Use a chopstick to poke at the thickest part of the fish. If it flakes easily, the fish is cooked.

DIETARY MODIFICATIONS

Egg-Free: No modifications needed.
Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free soya sauce and gluten-free Chinese Rice Wine (Hua Tiao Chiew)
Nut-Free: No modifications needed.
Shellfish-Free: No modifications needed.

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Teochew Steamed Chinese Pomfret – Version 2

Teochew Steamed Pomfret

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: steamed pomfret, teochew steamed fish, teochew steamed pomfret

Prep Time: 45

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 55

Servings:

Calories: 72kcal

Author: Bee Leng

Teochew Steamed Pomfret is a simple and healthy dish you can make for your family during the Chinese New Year season! No elaborate steps. Just fresh ingredients to make this dish shine.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 Pomfret Dao Chior, about 400gm
1 stalk Salted Mustard Kiam Chye
2-3 Sour Plum
4-5 slices Pork Fat
2 Tomato
3 Dried Shitake Mushroom medium size
2 sprigs Spring Onions
5 slices Ginger
2 rice bowls Water
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Soya Sauce
1 TBsp Oil
1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
a dash Pepper
1 Chilli optional
1 TBsp Hua Tiao Chiew 花雕酒 Shao Xing Wine 绍兴酒

Instructions

PREPARATION METHOD

Ensure that the fish is properly scaled and all traces of blood clots and innards are thoroughly removed and washed off. See my '6 Simple Steps to Scale and Clean Your Fish Like A Pro' for more details.
Pat the inside and outside of the fish dry with a kitchen towel.
Slant the knife against the fish's body and make two deep cuts across ( about 2″ apart) and on both sides of the fish ( in the direction of the fin towards the stomach).
Insert the wedged tomato into the slit.This allows the inside of the fish to be evenly cooked. Then place the fish on a stainless plate with deep sides.
Wash the tomatoes, spring onion, ginger, pork fat, sour plum and mushroom.
Soak the mushroom in hot water for 30 mins.
Remove the mushroom stalk and cut into 3 big slices. Cut the spring onion into 2 inches lengthwise. Remove the skin from the ginger and cut into 4-5 slices.
Cut the fat in big, thin slices.
Cut the kiam chye into thick slices and soak in warm water (enough water to cover just above the kiam chye) and soak for 15mins. Squeeze dry and set aside.
Lightly mash the sour plum.
Place the ginger slices, kiam chye, mushroom, sour plums including the seed, pork fat, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp soya sauce and the rest of the tomato with the fish. Chilli may be added if you prefer.
Add in 2 bowls of boiling water to the fish.

COOKING METHOD

In a wok, add enough water to cover the rack and boil over high heat.
When it’s boiling, put the fish on the rack and cover it and steam for about 8 mins over high heat.
Turn off the heat and put the spring onions on top of the fish.
In a small pan, add 1 TBsp of oil and heat up till very hot, pour over the spring onion.
Add sesame oil and 1 TBsp of Hua Tiao Chiew, pepper and salt to taste.
Before serving scoop the soup over the fish a few times so that the salt, oil, sugar, soya sauce will be evenly distributed. Serve Hot.

Notes

MARKETING TIPS

Do not buy frozen fish for steaming. They are only good for deep frying.

COOKING TIPS

Add thinly sliced ginger to the fish before steaming to help to mask the fishy smell. The ginger must be thinly sliced to give a more fragrant aroma
Once the fish is steamed, immediately place the spring onions on top of the fish and pour very hot oil over it. As you do, you will find the hot oil brings out a wonderful fragrance from the spring onions as well as the fish.
Pour 1 TBsp Hua Tiao Chiew or Brandy over the fish and serve immediately if you prefer. Its best to do this when the fish has just been removed from the heat to maximise the fragrance and flavours of the wine.

STEAMING TIPS

Do NOT oversteam! 7-8 minutes for pomfret of 400-500gm (provided that there is enough water to cover the top of the steaming rack, and a stainless plate is used) is sufficient. The 2 bowls of water added to the fish must be boiling hot or the cooking time will be different.
An extra 2-3 minutes of steaming may be required if you use porcelain or oven-proof ware.
Make sure the water in the wok does not overflow into the plate when it is boiling, otherwise the soup will have more water than necessary and it will be tasteless.
During steaming, try not to open the cover. Otherwise the sudden drop in temperature will change the cooking time of the fish.
Steam the fish only when the dinner is ready to be served as the fish takes less than 10 mins to steam. Once the fish turns cold, it is not as delicious.
Remove the wok cover after steaming or it will continue to cook. Use a chopstick to poke at the thickest part of the fish. If it flakes easily, the fish is cooked.