Chinese Steamed Fish (Senangin / Four-Fingered Threadfin)

Hello husbands!

For my first attempt at replicating restaurant cuisines, I am going to go with a very popular family dinner dish offered at the various Seafood Restaurants in Malaysia and hotels during Chinese weddings. I love Chinese Steamed Fish as it is a great way to highlight the freshness and the natural sweetness of the fish without affecting it's delicate texture. It also looks great on the table. Ticks all the boxes for a main course.

A couple of weeks ago I went to a nearby well known seafood restaurant for dinner. The bill for both my wife and I came to about RM180.00 which was more than I was prepared to fork out for a regular dinner. I went through the bill and everything seemed to be in order except to my surprise, the steamed fish we ordered cost us RM90.00!

The problem with going to seafood restaurants is that at some point you know you are going to have to break the bank when you order something without a price on the menu. The fish was senangin (Four fingered Threadfin) and it was sold at RM12 per 100g. So I suppose my piece of fish was about 750g. (yeah, sure thing uncle! I bet it lost some weight during the cooking process!) It was delicious but I think I could easily make my own at a fraction of the price; a very small fraction.

So we begin with some shopping! The wife, the daughter and I went to the nearby market (#occupypasar) to source for senangin. Senangin is a pretty popular fish in Malaysia and is regularly available.

Bad ass fish. Often misunderstood

 I was actually hoping to get my favourite fish, the sea siakap Australian Seabass (not farmed) but my regular fishmonger did not bring it in. With the monsoon hitting the East coast, we can expect fish prices to go up and some species not being available. So the senangins were going at RM22-26 per kilo and I grabbed one which was about 600g for RM12. A bit far from my target of 750g, but there will only be the two of us eating. Then I got some of the staple steamed fish ingredients; coriander leaves, spring onions, light soy sauce and sesame oil. My recipe requires peanut oil but I don't have further use of peanut oil which meant we're sticking with good old palm oil (Malaysia boleh!)

Dhea and mummy at the market!

Got home and spent some time leveling my Paladin (Level 44 woot!) and now to cooking (please ignore the inconsistencies in tenses). 

1. Clean the fish, pat dry and rubbed it with some salt and white pepper.

2. Slice some ginger extremely thin and some garlic (cuz we lerv a bit o garlic) - enough to cover one side of the fish

3. Stuff some sliced ginger into the cavity of the fish

4. Slice some spring onions and insert some into the cavity as well

That is one badass looking healthily cooked fish

5. I used a metal steamer to steam the fish and placed it in a pan that will collect its juices (dem gingery fishy goodness!)

6. Steam that fish!! I can't remember for how long, but it was probably about 20 minutes. Don't worry, you're steaming, nothing can go wrong! over steam pwns under steam

7. Take the fish out onto a nice oval plate (Yes, you finally have a use for it). Sprinkle the rest of the spring onions. Mix some light soy, sweet soy (kicap manis) and a squeeze of quarter of a lime. I wanted the freshness of the lime to cut through the saltiness and fishiness. Pour the soy onto the fish and check the taste - it shouldn't be too salty (hopefully the steam juices would water down the soy and add some sweetness). In hindsight I would add some sugar to the juices at this stage because the one I had at the seafood restaurant had a sweetness to it.

8. Here comes the money shot; heat 3-4 table spoon of oil on a small skillet over high heat. Add about 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and wait until it starts smoking. Pour the hot oil over the fish and hear dat sizzle! okay I'll do it for you, zsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhh.....

9. Garnish with... Wait, what am I talking about, coriander is bad ass! it is no garnish! carpet bomb dat ting!!

Yes, I did go overboard with the coriander.. but it's coriander leaves man! That thing is awesome

So the wife gives it a 10/10, but I am going to go with 9/10. It's damn good for the amount of effort you need to put in, and not mentioning the cost. All in all I'd say I spent about less than RM15.00 for the whole thing. Most of the ingredients are pantry stuff like soy sauce and sesame oil. The herbs are dirt cheap as well. 

So to all the husbands looking to save some hard earned cash to buy that next gen console, This is how you have a fish dinner at less than 20% of restaurant prices. And we're not talking air conditioned, fish swimming in the aquarium restaurants either. Only eat there if the boss is buying. 

I SAY GOOD DAY