Steamed Tilapia : The Kampong Style

One of my favorite cooking style is steaming fish. Steaming fish is more healthier than deep fry. But of course you all knew that. I just love the taste of steamed fresh fish with simple soy sauce and all the herbs like ginger, garlic, cilantro and scallion. 

Please note if you are using a microwave to steam fish, just use 5 minutes. If you're using a wok it's 20 to 30 minutes. We all know steaming foods in wok takes times like waiting for the water in the wok to heat up or boil before the food can be cooked. Okay, let's get started shall we. First of all, you will need to prepare these ingredient:

1 whole Tilapia, about 2 lbs,clean ,remove scales and entrails

1 stalk scallion ,clean and cut

A few drops of rice wine (lihing) - optional

1 stalk cilantro,clean and cut

3 cloves garlic,peel and sliced

2 inch ginger,peel and sliced

2-3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp sesame oil - optional (I use cooking oil :D )

Clean and wash Tilapia. Remove scales by scraping the fish and make a cut from the gills to the vent. Remove the entrails with your fingers and check the cavity carefully to make sure everything been removed and cleaned. ( You can ask the fish seller to clean for you if you're lazy )

Prepare and cut all herbs, set aside. Lay the clean whole fish on a large plate and top with all the cut herbs. Cover the whole fish with a cling wrapping film tightly and use tip knife to poke 2 holes on it as the vents.

Cook the whole fish in microwaves or wok. Again it's depend on the weight of your fish,how long the fish should cook. Check the fish with a chopstick or bamboo stick. If you can pierce with chopstick or bamboo stick all the way through in the fish center, that mean it's cooked, if it's not, wait a for a few minute or more. 

In the meantime heat skillet at high heat, add oil and pour soy sauce into it. Remove cooked fish from microwaves or wok. Quickly removed the cling wrapping film and pour the hot oil and soy sauce over the cooked fish. Drizzling sesame oil on the top. Serve hot or warm with rice. You can use boneless fish fillets instead of whole fish if you're not used to eat fish with bones. The reason I heated up the oil and soy sauce in hot skillet first before pouring it over the fish is to make the steam fish texture look good and it's flavor taste better!

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