Healthy but far from the blandness you’d expect from cooking methods that use so little oil, steaming fish is the best way to capture the freshness and true taste of the meat. The fresher the fish, the more it benefits from such cooking methods—and the white, firm-fleshed and mildly sweet lapu-lapu is often chosen to steam in this flavorful mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce and chicken stock. The sliced leeks and stir-fried garlic add a degree of freshness, and the chili sauce mixed in gives it a bit of a kick. The savory-sweetness of Chinese sausage steamed with the tofu and fish will act as a perfect foil to the clean taste of the lapu-lapu. This recipe is very easy to do at home—it’ll make a dinner fit for an emperor when you pair it with lots of fluffy white rice!
Ingredients:
- 1 pc lapu lapu, whole, cleaned
- 2 packs tofu, sliced
- 1 piece Chinese sausage, chopped
- 3 pieces Chinese mushrooms, steeped in hot water then sliced
- 1 stalk leek, sliced
- 2 thumbsized ginger, sliced
For the sauce
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 pcs garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- 2 tablespoons gin
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- leeks or fresh cilantro for garnish
Cooking Instructions:
- Place fish in the steamer, then add tofu, top with mushrooms, ginger, leeks and Chinese sausage. Steam the fish until done.
- In a wok, stir fry garlic then add all the ingredients for the sauce and boil. Strain and pour over the steamed fish and tofu. garnish with leeks or fresh cilantro
