Chinese-Style Steamed Whole Fish with Ginger and Scallions
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Whole fish, even for many fish lovers, can be a hard sell. The head, the tail, the fins — I suppose it’s just a little too much?
If this perhaps describes you, I’m hoping I can convince you to give whole-fish cooking a go, because I think you’ll fall in love with the method, this Chinese-style preparation in particular.
The recipe, from Alana Kysar’s Aloha Kitchen, can be broken down as follows:
- Steaming the fish — I’ve been using Branzino — on a bed of aromatics (ginger, scallions, and cilantro) with a splash of sake.
- Making a sauce, a simple mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and hot chilies (if you wish).
- Dressing the steamed fish with a few tablespoons of hot oil and the soy sauce mixture, which you heat up briefly as well. The sauce will sizzle upon meeting the steamed fish.
- Showering the steamed fish with a final garnish of cilantro, scallions, and ginger.
It’s really fun to make and truly one of the most delicious recipes for fish I have every made. As suggested, I’ve been serving it with rice, which tastes especially good with the sauce.
Before opening Aloha Kitchen, I would never have thought to make this dish at home. Steamed whole fish is something I often order out, because it’s consistently good. It’s also something I’ve always feared would never taste as good at home, one of those Chinese dishes that just tastes better, for whatever reason, in a restaurant.
But Alana’s recipe has proven otherwise: it’s simple and delicious. I hope you give it a go.
Incidentally, Aloha Kitchen is all about local Hawaiian food, which Alana describes as: “Creole cuisine built on the many influences of Hawai’i’s early immigrants.” These influencers include Hawaiians, Westerners, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Koreans, and Filipinos. The foods of these various cultures are reflected in the recipes in Aloha Kitchen, all of which will make you want to jump on an airplane immediately, hightail it to the first drive-in in sight, and order a plate lunch of loco moco, steamed rice, and mac salad. Meet you there?
Perfect. Can’t wait. OK, back to the whole fish.
Why Cook Fish Whole?
- Texture. For one, cooking fish whole, regardless of the medium, is more forgiving. If you overcook a filet in the oven or on the stovetop or grill by a minute or two, it likely will be dry; a whole fish won’t. Steaming in particular keeps the flesh very moist. (That said, I will absolutely try the hot oil and sauce trick over grilled whole fish come summer.)
- Heat retention. Like another favorite fish-cooking method, en papillote, the fish retains its heat. This method, which, as noted above, calls for pouring hot oil and sauce over the fish, gives the hot fish another blast of heat.
- Ease. Cooking filets of fish on a grill or stovetop takes a bit of finesse and there’s always the risk of sticking. With steaming, there’s no such worry — no flipping, no sticking.
Are you convinced? Will you give whole-fish cooking a go? Or are you already an adopter?
PS: ALL the Fish Recipes right here.
Here’s the play-by-play: Gather ginger, cilantro, scallions, and a hot chili, if you wish.
Cut some of them coarsely for steaming…
… and some finely for garnish.
Stir together a simple sauce: soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, hot chili.
For this recipe, a mild, white-fleshed fish is nice. I’m using Branzino.
Make slits in the Branzino and stuff each with a coin of ginger and a slice of scallion.
Prepare a steamer basket — I’m using a cooling rack — with cilantro, ginger, and scallions; lay the fish on top.
Bring water to boil in a wok or other wide vessel.
Lower in the fish.
Pour 2 tablespoons of sake over top, then close the lid.
Steam for about 10 minutes. Near the end of cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small pot until it shimmers.
Transfer fish to a platter, and pour the hot oil over top first. Heat the soy sauce mixture in the now empty pot, and pour that over top, too.
Garnish with slivered ginger and herbs.
So good with rice.
This is the recipe I use: Perfect Instant Pot Brown Rice. 
Chinese-Style Steamed Whole Fish with Ginger and Scallions
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
Description
Source: Alana Kysar’s Aloha Kitchen
A few notes:
- If you serve this with rice, get that going first. I’ve been making Perfect Instant Pot Brown Rice; just the rice part, not the dressing.
- You need a wide pot or pan with a lid for this recipe. The wide shape of the wok is nice because the cooling rack can rest higher up in the pan, allowing water to simmer beneath it without hitting the fish. A whole fish fits nicely inside it, too.
- Depending on the size of your fish, you will need to adjust the timing. I’ve been using Branzino, and each Branzino has weighed about 1.25-1.5 lbs. For this size fish, 9 to 1o minutes steaming is about right. For a 2-lb fish, cook for about 16-20 minutes. Alana calls for Moi or other mild, white-fleshed fish.
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 hot chili, thinly sliced, optional
For steaming the fish:
- 1 whole fish, such as Branzino, about 1–1.5 lbs
- kosher salt and pepper
- 6 scallions, greens part only, cut into 2-inch lengths
- one 3-inch piece ginger, sliced crosswise into coins
- a few small handfuls of cilantro
- 2 tablespoons sake
For finishing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or macadamia nut oil, if you can find it)
- 1 scallion, green part only, thinly sliced on the bias
- one 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and julienned
- small handful of cilantro, finely chopped
Instructions
- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, and chili, if using. Set aside.
- Prepare the fish. Using a paring knife or chef’s knife, cut three or four 1-inch slits on each side of the fish through the skin to the bone. Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Season generously all over, inside and out, with salt and pepper to taste. Insert 1 piece of scallion and 1 coin of ginger in each slit. Stuff the fish with half of the remaining scallions and ginger. Stuff some cilantro into the cavity of the fish, too.
- Prepare the steamer bed. Lay the remaining cilantro, scallions and ginger on top of a steamer basket — I use a cooling rack. Place the fish on the bed of aromatics.
- Steam the fish. In a large wide pot, such as a wok with a lid, bring 2 inches of water to a boil over high heat. Carefully set the steamer basket inside. Pour the sake over the fish. Cover the pan. Reduce heat to medium or low, keeping the water at a simmer. Steam for 9-10 minutes (see notes above), until the flesh is opaque and easily flakes. Transfer the fish to a platter. Discard the aromatics.
- Finish the dish. Heat the oil in a small sauce pan over high heat until it starts to fizzle. Pour the oil over the fish. Return pan to burner and pour in the soy sauce mixture. Heat the sauce until it bubbles up — this will happen nearly instantaneously. Pour the sauce over the fish. Scatter the scallions, ginger, and cilantro over top. Note: When I made this on Instagram Stories, a number of people suggested I put the herbs on first, then pour the hot oil and sauce over them — will try this next time and report back. Serve with bowls of steamed rice.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Steaming
- Cuisine: Chinese
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
11 Comments on “Chinese-Style Steamed Whole Fish with Ginger and Scallions”
This was soooo delicious. The rice also. I made a mistake and added the garnish of ginger, scallions and cilantro to the oil before I heated it. It didn’t matter and I think I will do it that way again next time. Love all your recipes that I have made. Thanks
So happy to hear this, Linda! Heating the oil with the herbs sounds really delicious … I’ll try that next time, too 🙂 Thank you for the kind words.
Why, oh why don’t I make whole fish more often? It is so easy, so, so much fresher, and dramatic than a boneless filet. Living near Rhode Island, I used local black sea bass, about a 1 1/2 pound fish. I used a 13 inch brasier with a domed lid and with a vegetable steamer (the little rod in the middle is a nuisance, but the height of the steamer basket is good). I added less water, enough to steam but making sure the water didn’t touch the fish. I had to snip part of the tail fin to make the fish fit. This sounds fussy, but really it took a minute to set up. It’s amazing how the ginger, scallion greens, and cilantro infuse the fish with flavor. I stumbled upon macadamia nut oil at my health food store, and it’s well worth a splurge for this dish (and I also used it in Alexandra’s charred broccoli salad, which I served with the fish, minus the cheese if accompanying this fish.) I steamed the fish for 10 minutes, and it was perfect. Honestly, this fish is better than fish I’ve paid a fortune for at restaurants. You might want to look at a video for serving a whole fish, but essentially, you cut with a sharp knife on the side of the fish and lengthwise and slide the fish off. Then, you lift the whole skeleton by gently lifting up the tail and pulling it forward. It comes off in one piece. I would suggest ordering your fish from the fishmonger so you have fish that hasn’t been sitting around. I hope your readers will try this. It’s fun to make and although it’s as easy as can, the process and results make you feel like a chef!
So happy to hear this, Mary! I’ll look for macadamia nut oil. I find this to be one of the most delicious fish recipes I’ve ever eaten as well.
Hi Ali, we just finished this dish made with yellowtail my husband just caught yesterday in FL. It was fabulous! We will definitely make this again, even if we have fillets and not the whole fish. Thank you ☺️
So happy to hear this, Julie! It’s one of my favorites. And wow: fresh-caught yellowtail. I can only imagine how delicious that was!!
Wonderful recipe. As good as in our favorite restaurant.
So nice to hear this, Jeanne 🙂 🙂 🙂 I love this one, too, and don’t make it nearly enough.
This fish was beautiful! We used whole snapper and the fish was so fresh and light and the macadamia nut oil was a great choice to use. We usually cook our whole fish in the sauce with ginger and shallots wrapped in foil. We thought that was good but your recipe has taken things to a whole new level. We’d expect to find this on the menu of top Asian recipes!! Will definitely be making this often
Great to hear, Carolyn! This is one of my absolute favorites, and I don’t make it nearly enough. So glad you had success. Thanks for writing and sharing your notes.