Cherry & Dennis Recipes
Thai Steamed Seabass with Lime and Garlic
泰式青檸蒸海鱸魚
Recipe overview
Thai Steamed Seabass with Lime and Garlic, also called Pla Kapong Neung Manao, steams a whole seabass at high heat and adds a clear fish-sauce, lime, garlic and chilli dressing only after cooking. Fish sauce is high in sodium, so this is not a low-sodium dish; adults must debone whole fish for children and older people.
01
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 1, 900 g–1 kg after gutting. Choose clear eyes, red gills, springy flesh and no off odour; after thawing recheck scales, gills, cavity and blood Whole seabass
- 5. Juice about 100 ml and reserve half for slices; do not replace with lots of yellow lemon Limes
- 8 cloves, about 35 g. Peel and finely chop; do not turn into liquid puree Garlic
- 3–5; green bird’s eye chillies: 1–2. Slice or chop; reduce or omit for low heat Red bird’s eye chillies
- 25 g. Scrub and bruise roots for steaming and dressing; use stems and leaves at the end Fresh coriander
- 2 stalks; ginger: 25 g (about 7 slices). Bruise lemongrass and use with ginger under and inside fish
- 120 ml. Warm to dissolve sugar then cool before mixing; reduce fish sauce for salted stock and check celery, soy and wheat labels Unsalted chicken stock
Fish preparation
- 1/4 teaspoon: lightly rub cavity and skin, then blot after 5 minutes; fish sauce is salty, so do not add more
Thai fish-sauce lime dressing
- 4 tablespoons: check fish allergen and sodium label Fish sauce
- 2.5 tablespoons: dissolve in warm stock, never make syrup. Combine with listed lime juice, garlic, red/green chillies, coriander root and unsalted stock sugar
Final dressing adjustment
- up to 1 teaspoon: add only after tasting Fish sauce
- up to 1 teaspoon: add little by little only if limes are very sharp sugar
02
Tools
- large steamer pot, rack, lid, long deep fish plate
- large steamer pot, rack, lid, long deep fish plate
- large steamer pot, rack, lid, long deep fish plate
- large steamer pot, rack, lid, long deep fish plate
- raw-fish board, cooked-food board, knife, kitchen scissors, fish scaler
- raw-fish board, cooked-food board, knife, kitchen scissors, fish scaler
- raw-fish tongs, cooked-food tongs, large bowl, medium bowl, two small bowls, measuring cup
- raw-fish tongs, cooked-food tongs, large bowl, medium bowl, two small bowls, measuring cup
- raw-fish tongs, cooked-food tongs, large bowl, medium bowl, two small bowls, measuring cup
- raw-fish tongs, cooked-food tongs, large bowl, medium bowl, two small bowls, measuring cup
- raw-fish tongs, cooked-food tongs, large bowl, medium bowl, two small bowls, measuring cup
- tablespoon, teaspoon, chopsticks, sieve, kitchen paper, instant-read thermometer
- tablespoon, teaspoon, chopsticks, sieve, kitchen paper, instant-read thermometer
- tablespoon, teaspoon, chopsticks, sieve, kitchen paper, instant-read thermometer
- tablespoon, teaspoon, chopsticks, sieve, kitchen paper, instant-read thermometer
- tablespoon, teaspoon, chopsticks, sieve, kitchen paper, instant-read thermometer
- tablespoon, teaspoon, chopsticks, sieve, kitchen paper, instant-read thermometer
- citrus juicer, small saucepan, ladle, oven gloves, fish-bone tweezers, white long serving plate
- citrus juicer, small saucepan, ladle, oven gloves, fish-bone tweezers, white long serving plate
- citrus juicer, small saucepan, ladle, oven gloves, fish-bone tweezers, white long serving plate
- citrus juicer, small saucepan, ladle, oven gloves, fish-bone tweezers, white long serving plate
03
Steps
Step 1
Thaw and inspect whole seabass
Thaw frozen fish in its packaging in the refrigerator until no hard ice remains, then drain liquid; reject sour, ammonia-like, slimy or grey-yellow fish.
Step 2
Reclean scales, gills and cavity
On the raw-fish board, scrape from tail to head, cut out gills and remove organs, dark membrane and blood; do not splash-rinse.
Step 3
Dry, score and salt lightly
Blot skin, cavity and fin areas; make three shallow cuts per side without cutting bone; salt lightly for 5 minutes and blot again.
Step 4
Prepare aromatics and fish plate
Bruise lemongrass, slice ginger and bruise coriander roots; put some underneath and a little in the cavity for steam flow.
Step 5
Make fish-sauce base
Warm unsalted stock and sugar gently until dissolved, without boiling; remove from heat, cool slightly and stir in fish sauce.
Step 6
Add lime, garlic and chillies
When not hot to touch, add 100 ml lime juice, garlic, red/green chillies and coriander root; taste before small adjustments.
Step 7
Bring steamer to a full boil
Add enough water, fit rack and lid, and use high heat until abundant continuous steam; water must not touch plate.
Step 8
Steam at high heat
With oven gloves, place fish plate on rack and cover immediately; steam a 900 g–1 kg fish 10–12 minutes without frequent lid opening.
Step 9
Check safe doneness
After 10 minutes, probe the thickest back flesh while avoiding bone; it must reach 63°C, be opaque and lift from bone, or steam 1–2 minutes more.
Step 10
Discard steaming liquid
Move cooked fish to a heatproof mat, steady with cooked-food tongs and pour off most fishy liquid; do not flip fish or mix liquid into dressing.
Step 11
Pour lime dressing
Stir the clear dressing and pour garlic, chilli and coriander root over cooked fish and cuts; keep dressing warm or room temperature, never long-boiled.
Step 12
Finish and serve
Add coriander stems/leaves and a few lime slices; an adult must debone and check fine bones for children and older people.
Common mistakes
- English: Avoid room-temperature thawing, icy-centre steaming, spoiled-fish checks skipped, splash-rinsing, poor drying, deep scoring, blocked steam, a non-boiling steamer, lid opening, eye-only checks, bone-contact thermometer readings, oversteaming, retaining/mixing steaming liquid, long-boiled lime dressing, too much fish sauce/sugar, thickened sauce, dressing undercooked fish, raw-tool cross-contamination, unattended deboning, and calling this low sodium.
Tips
English: Thaw in the refrigerator, recheck the fish, dry and score shallowly; put some lemongrass and ginger below; dissolve sugar in stock and cool before lime/garlic/chilli; steam only after a full boil; check a 900 g–1 kg fish from 10 minutes; reach 63°C in thick back flesh away from bone; discard steaming liquid before dressing; reduce chilli, separate raw/cooked tools, adult-debone, check labels, watch sodium and chill/reheat leftovers thoroughly.
