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Preparation
40 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
On the upcoming Vietnam Family Day, today you can join cooking with TasteVN to make a delicious and nutritious steamed dish that every member of your family can enjoy, which is steamed snakehead fish with soy sauce. Let’s get started!
Ingredients for Steamed Snakehead Fish For 4 people
Snakehead fish 1 kg (1 fish) Pork belly 300 gr Soybean paste 5 tablespoons Carrot 100 gr (1/2 piece) Onion 1 bulb Green onion 1 sprig Wood ear mushroom 15 gr (1 piece) Glass noodles 20 gr Ginger 100 gr (2 pieces) Minced shallots 2 teaspoons Minced garlic 2 teaspoons White wine 1 tablespoon Common spices a little (Salt/ Sugar/ Ground pepper)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh snakehead fish
- Of course, live fish always have the best flavor. Therefore, you should choose snakehead fish that swim well, with clear eyes, and visible pupils. Avoid choosing snakehead fish with swollen bodies, weak swimming, and pale colors.
- Additionally, you should choose fish that feel firm when pressed, not mushy, and have good elasticity like rubber.
- Moreover, fresh and delicious fish have a cherry color; on the contrary, if they are dark brown or cloudy, the fish has gone bad.
- Snakehead fish are freshwater fish, so they will have a smell like pond water. At the same time, avoid choosing fish that have a strong fishy smell as that indicates they have been kept for too long.
How to choose fresh pork belly
- Fresh pork belly has a light red or bright pink color, with the fat layer being bright white, firm to the touch, and having good elasticity.
- In addition, the meat and fat should not be separated but should stick tightly together; when held, you can feel the firmness of the meat.
- To avoid feeling greasy while eating, you should choose meat with a balanced and even ratio of fat and meat.
- Especially, avoid choosing meat that has a rancid smell or any other strange odor, as this indicates old meat that has been kept for too long. Fresh meat will have a more distinct aroma.
Where to buy fermented soybeans?
- Currently, fermented soybeans are commonly sold in many places such as supermarkets, markets…. Therefore, when buying pre-packaged fermented soybeans, you should choose a brand with a clear reputation, a product that is intact, and importantly, check the expiration date of the product.
- In addition, to enhance the flavor of the dish, you should use fermented soybeans that are yellow in color because they have a sweet taste. In contrast, black fermented soybeans have been pre-seasoned, so they will taste saltier.
- Moreover, you can also make fermented soybeans at home with the extremely simple and quick recipe below from TasteVN!
Tools needed
Steamer, knife, cutting board, bowl, plate,…
How to prepare steamed snakehead fish with soy sauce
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Prepare and marinate the snakehead fish
First, after buying the snakehead fish, cut off the head, gills, and tail. Then, scrape the scales clean and rinse briefly with water, next use a knife to cut a line along the belly of the fish to remove the intestines and any remaining blood.
To ensure the fish is completely clean, rub a bit of salt on the surface of the fish for 3 – 5 minutes, then rinse with clean water 1 – 2 times and let it drain.
Next, marinate the fish with 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of white wine, 50g (1 piece) of ginger that has been peeled and mashed, and 4 tablespoons of soy sauce.
Rub the seasoning evenly over the fish and let it marinate for 20 minutes to absorb the flavors.
Tip: To ensure the fish absorbs the seasoning better, you can score 2 – 3 cross cuts on both sides of the fish!
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Prepare the other ingredients
Pork belly bought should be rinsed briefly with diluted saltwater, then washed clean, drained, and cut into bite-sized pieces.
For carrots and ginger, peel, wash, and then cut into strips.
Onions only need to be peeled and cut into wedges. As for green onions, just remove the roots, wash them clean, and cut into sections.
Next, you proceed to soak the wood ear mushrooms and vermicelli in water for 45 – 60 minutes until they are soft. Then, drain the water and cut the wood ear mushrooms into strips and the vermicelli into sections.
Tip: To avoid triggering harmful substances in wood ear mushrooms, remember not to soak them in hot water and absolutely soak them for a maximum of 3 hours.
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Make the fish stuffing
Prepare a bowl for 300g of cut pork belly, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of ground pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of minced shallots, 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, ginger, and shredded carrots.
Continue adding in 1 piece of shredded wood ear mushroom, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 stalk of green onion, and 20g of cut vermicelli, and mix all the ingredients together well.
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Stuffing and steaming the fish
Next, take half of the stuffing you just prepared and stuff it into the fish’s belly, then place it on a plate and arrange the remaining half of the stuffing around it before steaming.
Boil 300ml of water in the steamer first, then place the plate of fish into the steamer and steam for 25 – 30 minutes until the fish is cooked, then turn off the heat and remove the fish from the steamer.
Tip:- To avoid the fish looking unappealing after steaming, do not overstuff it; just enough is fine!
- During steaming, check the water in the bottom compartment frequently to prevent it from drying out.
- To save steaming time, you can use warm or boiling water in the bottom compartment of the steamer!
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Final Product
Present the steamed snakehead fish with soy sauce and treat your family and friends right away! TasteVN believes that even just a casual glance will make it irresistible for everyone!
The snakehead fish is incredibly fresh and sweet, combined with the salty and sweet soy sauce, which is very interesting, plus the crunchy texture of carrots, wood ear mushrooms, and glass noodles, along with the faint aroma of ginger. Oh, how can one possibly stop!
To enhance the flavor of the dish, you can wrap it with rice paper and fresh herbs, and dip it in a bowl of sweet and sour fish sauce!
Thus, the above article has provided a recipe for the super delicious steamed snakehead fish with fermented soybean, which is also very appealing. Your whole family will love this delicious and nutritious steamed fish dish. Show off your cooking skills right away and enjoy it with your family on Vietnamese Family Day!
