I do not buy the idea that fish must be steamed with light soy sauce at all times. I personally feel that there are more ways to cook fishes that would still end up tasty.
This 3-Flavoured Fish Head 三味鱼头 is really versatile. You choose how you like it to be cooked. Steam it. Grill it....whatever. You may also choose to cook a fish head, whole fish, part fish or fillet. Whichever way works for you works for the dish.....
By the way, the 3-Flavoured Fish Head 三味鱼头 here is not limited to 3-flavours. This fish head is immersed primarily with flavours from 3 key aromatic ingredients : ginger, garlic and onion. There are other accompanying flavours such as rice wine, lime, chili, etc....
Ingredients (enough for 2 pax) :
- 1/2 or whole fish head of your choice
- 10 cloves garlic (pressed)
- 2 lemons (cut to wedges)(leave 2 thin slices for garnishing)
- 10 cloves garlic (peeled and pressed)
- 1 large yellow onion (peeled and sliced)
- 20 slices ginger (shredded)
- 10 sweet basil leaves (optional)
- 12 tbsp mirin/Japanese rice wine
- 3 limes
- cut chili (for garnishing)
- salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
(tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon)
Method :
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| Rub fish head with salt before placing in roaster or steamer. Add ginger, garlic and onions. |
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| Add sweet basil leaves (optional). |
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| Add mirin / Japanese rice wine. |
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| Add half portion of cut chili. Keep the other half portion for garnishing. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius (356 degrees fahrenheit) if you choose to grill/roast in oven. Otherwise, you may choose to steam. It works too. |
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| Cover lid of roaster and send to oven/steamer for 25 minutes. Use a sheet of foil to cover if you do not have a lid. |
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| Turn off heat of oven/steamer after 25 minutes. Do not open lid. Let fish head simmer for further 10 minutes in room temperature. |
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| Remove cooked basil leaves, garnish and serve hot with steamed rice. |
3-Flavoured Fish Head 三味鱼头 is a very easy dish to prepare and cook. Be creative with the ingredients. Just ensure that the 3 predominant flavours : garlic, ginger and onions would not be overwhelmed or masked by other ingredients and you are good to go.
