Steamed Whole Fish, Andy Ricker-Style
Peden + Munk1/9Steamed Fish with Lime and Chile
Steamed fish is the definition of minimalist Thai cooking. The steam not only gently cooks the fish until just tender but also creates an instant, complex sauce from a handful of basic ingredients. Scoring the fish's flesh allows more of the flavor to season the fish and facilitates faster steaming. The fish is cooked on a plate that fits inside the steamer, to catch the juices.
2/9Bamboo steamer: The microwave of Asian cooking. Get the biggest one you can find.
3/9Make the spice paste from garlic, cilantro stems, and chiles in a clay mortar (if you don't have one, pulse it in a mini-processor until a loose paste forms).
4/9Add lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and pepper.
5/9When making slits in the fish, be sure to slice all the way down to--but not through--the bone. You want your flavoring paste (which will become your sauce) to penetrate the flesh as much as possible.
6/9Place fish on a plate that will fit inside the steamer with some wiggle room.
7/9Pour the aromatics--in this case, a paste of garlic, cilantro, chiles, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and pepper--directly on the fish so they run into the slits and flavor the flesh.
8/9Once the fish goes into the steamer, the moist heat from the steam melds the aromatics and fish juices to create a well-composed sauce on your plate.
9/9The fish is ready to serve right out of the steamer, plate and all.
