Steamed snapper with chilli jam - Whole snapper is great for marinating. Our recipe perfectly balances Asian flavours with gentle steaming to create a delicious dish. Perfect served with steamed rice and wok tossed Asian greens, creating a beautiful centerpiece for your table.
This whole snapper is sure to wow your friends and family. Seasoned with soy and mirin then rubbed with chilli jam and steamed in a bamboo basket over a wok until perfectly cooked. This fragrant dish has a nice hint of spice from the chilli jam then the cucumber Asian salad combines to cool the palate.
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Choosing and preparing your fish.
We used Snapper for this recipe. But head down to your local fish market or supermarket and see what is sustainable and available in your region. Choose a fish that is about 800g and will fit into your steamer. A white fish with firm textured flesh will work best for this dish.
To tell if the fish is fresh look for the eyes to be clear, the gills to be bright red and there is no strong fish smell.
To prepare your fish you can ask the fish monger to remove the guts and gills, they may even scale it for you. If not using a sharp knife make a cut along the belly of the fish and pull out the guts. Cut around the gills and pull them out as well.
Using the back of a knife working from the tail towards the head scrape off the scales. Do this outside to prevent mess or in a sink with running water.
Using a pair of scissors trim off the fins.
Make 3-4 cuts on an angle along each side of the fish. This will help the fish take on those lovely flavours and cook evenly.
Now you are ready to cook your fish, follow our method in full below.
Homemade Chilli Jam
The chilli jam is packed with tasty Thai flavours and is also very versatile. You can make the chilli jam ahead of time as it lasts well in the fridge.
You can even smear it over a whole chicken prior to roasting, add it to stir fried vegetables. It will boost your cooking with each spoonful you use.
Steamed snapper with chilli jam, is sure to be a crowd pleaser and will look stunning on any table. Let us walk you through how to re-create this dish... and be sure to share your finished work with us, enjoy!
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Our goal is to share simple, tasty dishes created by Chef Shane and partner, Sara. Using Shane's understanding of flavours and knowledge of food, to teach and inspire you to create delicious food everyday and gain a new level of confidence in the kitchen. Sara understands what it's like preparing weekly dinners for a busy family of five and likes to create dishes that are easy, full of flavour, that the whole family will enjoy.
Happy cooking!
Steamed Snapper with Chilli Jam and Asian Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 800 g Whole snapper gutted, scaled, trimed
- 100 ml Light soy sauce
- 50 ml Mirin
- 20 ml Sesame oil
- 2 Limes cut into cheeks
Chilli Jam
- 8 ea Dried red chillis
- 2 teaspoon Dried shrimps
- 10 cloves Garlic Peeled
- 4 Shallots Peeled, cut into chunks
- 2 tablespoon Tamarind juice
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Fish sauce
- 3 tablespoon Palm sugar Grated
- ¼ teaspoon Shrimp paste
- 125 ml Canola oil
Asian Cucumber Salad
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 Red chilli Deseeded, thinly sliced
- 4 Fresh kaffir lime leaves Cut into thin strips
- 15 g Fresh mint leaves
- 15 g Fresh coriander leaves
- 2 Spring onion stalks Thinly slice diagonally
Instructions
Aisan Cucumber Salad
- Using a peeler, peel the cucumber into long ribbons, place in a bowl. Add the red chilli, kaffir lime leaves, mint, coriander and spring onions, mix well and place in the fridge, until later.
Chilli Jam
- Cut the dried chillies into pieces with scissors and remove the seeds.
- Heat a fry pan on a high heat and add the dried chillies, toast until smoky and a little charred. Remove and set aside.
- Add the shallots and garlic to the same pan and toast until they are a little charred then remove.
- Using a mortar and pestle grind the toasted chillies and dried shrimps to a powder
- In a food processor add the charred garlic, shallots, ground chilli and shrimps, tamarind juice, salt, fish sauce, palm sugar and shrimp paste into a paste. Add a little of the oil if needed.
- Heat a fry pan and add the blended chilli paste to the pan with a little more of the oil.
- Fry the paste on a low heat for 15 minutes stirring constantly. The paste will turn a darker colour as the paste cooks.
- Store your paste in a glass jar in the fridge. It will last a couple of months
Preparing The Whole Fish
- To make the soy marinade for the whole fish, combine the soy, mirin and sesame oil in a bowl.
- Rinse the fish under cold running water and pat dry with a paper towel. Use a sharp knife to create 4 diagonal cuts across the fish in the thickest part, on both sides.
- Place the fish into a heatproof dish (that will fit inside a large bamboo steamer) and pour over the soy marinade, leave to sit for 20 minutes, turning occasionally. Rub the chilli jam onto the fish, making sure to get in between the cuts. Then place the plate into the bamboo steamer.
- Add water to a large wok or pot, about 10cm deep and bring to the boil over a high heat then reduce to medium heat.
- Place the bamboo steamer over the wok of simmering water. Steam covered for 15-20 minutes. To test if the fish is cooked, using a fork, pull at the flesh at the thickest part of the fish, it should pull away easily.
- Remove the steamer basket from the wok and carefully lift the fish onto a serving platter. Pour over the remaining liquid from the heatproof dish.
- Serve with the cucumber salad and lime cheeks.
Danielle
This sounds incredible! I am loving that you used tamarind. I am definitely going to make this over the weekend!
Gina
This is such an impressive dish not to mention absolutely delicious! Love the tamarind juice flavor that comes through in the jam. Restaurant quality and a great way to overcome any fears of cooking a whole fish at home!
Toni
I really love the combination of flavors!! This is really good!
Tracy
WOW what a show stopping dish. LOVE that chili jam and cucumber salad with it, it really ties it all together. Such a beautiful and delicious meal!