Recipes

Steamed Sea Bass with Chili, Lime, and Garlic

Plah Kapong Neung Manao

Whole steamed sea bass topped with a fresh lime, garlic, and chili salsa

Prep

5 min

Cook

10 min

Serves

4

Heat

hot

Steaming is a light, quick way to cook a whole fish, and this dish keeps that simplicity by leaving the fish itself completely unseasoned so a fresh, uncooked salsa can do all the work. Garlic and chili, chopped rather than pounded smooth, sit in a base of lime juice, fish sauce, and dissolved coconut sugar, with cilantro folded in only at the last moment to keep it bright. The fish itself cooks in well under ten minutes once scored to help heat reach the bone, and it's served the traditional way — whole, at the table, eaten side by side with fresh Chinese celery as diners work their way down to the skeleton before flipping it over for the second half.

Ingredients

• 1 Barramundi, medium-large (whole, scaled and cleaned, head on)
• 4 tablespoons Garlic (chopped)
• 5 Thai hot chilies (chopped fine)
• 1/3 cup Fresh lime juice
• 4 tablespoons Fish sauce
• 2 3/4 tablespoons Coconut sugar (dissolved in a little water)
• 1/3 cup Coriander/cilantro leaves (chopped, added just before serving)
• 5 sprigs Chinese celery (for garnish and eating alongside)

Directions

1. Scale and clean the fish, leaving the head on for flavor. Trim the tail if needed to fit your steamer. Score the thicker parts of the body two or three times on each side, cutting to the bone, so it cooks evenly.
2. Dissolve the coconut sugar in a little water, heated briefly but not boiled, to make a syrup.
3. Squeeze the lime juice, chop the garlic and cilantro, and chop the chilies (finer chopping makes the salsa spicier).
4. Stir the sugar syrup, fish sauce, and lime juice together. Add the garlic and chili. Hold off on the cilantro until just before serving so it stays fresh. Let sit about 10 minutes while the fish steams.
5. Lay the fish in a heatproof dish with room around it and steam for 5 to 9 minutes, until the meat pulls easily from the bone at the thickest part and looks opaque rather than translucent.
6. Transfer the fish to a serving platter and pour the cooking juices over it. Stir the cilantro into the salsa and spoon about half over the fish, saving the rest in a small bowl on the side.
7. Garnish with Chinese celery sprigs, eaten alongside the fish like a fresh herb salad. Serve immediately with steamed rice, flaking the fish off the bone as you eat, adding the remaining salsa once the first side is finished.

Notes

Score the thick parts of the fish to the bone on both sides before steaming — it's what lets the whole fish cook through evenly in such a short time.

Substitutions

Any firm white fish that fits your steamer works in place of barramundi. Sweet red pepper can replace some or all of the hot chili for a milder salsa.