The steamed fish with fresh herbs and lime is a refreshing change from our usual style of cooking. With no oil and the fresh taste of lime and the perfect combination of sweet, sour and spicy ….. it was a treat for the taste buds with the added benefit of less calories. My family loved this dish, hope you enjoy it too 🙂 … Happy Cooking !
Prep Time : 20 mins Cook Time : 20 mins
Serves : 4
INGREDIENTS
- 1 whole fish of your choice ( any white, mild favored fish preferable the one with few or large bones ) 800 gms – 1 Kg
- 1 small bunch Lemon grass
For the sauce
- 3 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
- 3 Tablespoon Garlic Paste (or finely chopped)
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup sugar syrup ( take 4 tbsp of brown sugar & 2 tbsp of water & boil for a min till the sugar dissolves )
- 5 Green / Red chillies finely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro/coriander chopped
METHOD
- To make the sauce, first take the brown sugar and water and boil for a minute to make a sweet syrup
- Then mix all the ingredients except the green coriander for the sauce and keep it aside. The green coriander has to be added to the sauce just before serving
- Clean the fish thoroughly and make diagonal cuts on the sides of the fish so that it will cook evenly and faster. My fish was bigger than my steamer 🙂 so I cut the fish into two equal parts but it is not necessary if your whole fish fits in your steamer.
- You can add some fresh lemon grass to the fish before you steam. I did not have fresh one so I used dried lemon grass and some dried kaffir lime leaves. It is important to save the fish stock that come out of the fish when you steam it. Therefore, before you steam you fish, place a foil underneath it and then place the fish on it.
- Fold the side of the foil and then place the fish in your steamer and steam the fish for 15 mins. Make sure the water is boiling and the amount of time it will take will depend upon the size and thickness of your fish.
- When the fish is done, some liquid will be collected in the foil. That is the fish stock and will be used along with the sauce.
- To serve, place the steamed fish gently on to a serving dish, pour all the fish stock over the fish. Add the chopped green coriander to the sauce that was prepared earlier and pour it over the fish to coat the evenly.
- You can serve it with plain steamed rice and I also add in Choysum with Oyster sauce as a side dish to make a perfect family meal. Enjoy !
