Steamed baby snapper with sweet soy sauce
For snapper
750g baby snapper, filleted (one from either side — ask your fishmonger to do this)
3 caps shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
Half red capsicum, sliced thinly
10 sprigs coriander, leaves only
Small knob ginger, thinly chopped
2 stalks spring onion, cut thin, lengthwise
For sweet soy sauce
1 cup soy sauce
½ cup of mirin (sweet
cooking wine)
½ cup sake
¾ cup sugar
Small piece of ginger
The white of a spring onion
1 clove of garlic
To make sweet soy sauce, combine all ingredients and simmer and reduce slowly until a quarter is gone. Remove ginger, onion and garlic and set aside to chill.¦Bring a steamer up to mid-high heat. On the plate, place snapper skin-side up. Cover snapper fillets with a layer of thinly sliced capsicum, then a layer of shiitake and a layer of coriander leaves and ginger. Drizzle the snapper with sweet soy sauce (about two tablespoons on each fillet).
Cover everything with a plate and steam for five minutes or until fish is cooked through.
A skewer can be used to test if the fillet is cooked to satisfaction.
Once the fish is ready, heat half a cup of olive oil in a pan to smoke point. Place chopped spring onion on top of each snapper fillet and flash-sear with hot oil by pouring a little of the boiling oil over the top of the fillet, which has the vegetables on top (you won't need to use all the oil).
Place snapper fillets on serving plate. Add remaining sweet soy sauce and any fish juice and other liquids that have come out of the fish. Serve with steamed green leafy vegetables.
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