Abundance Peacock Steamed Grouper

For all the jiak katangs and bananas out there who can’t speak their mother tongue, 年年有余 (nian nian you yu) is one of the safest and most common Chinese New Year blessings to fall back on. The popularity of this blessing is also the reason why fish (鱼 yu), which sounds like abundance (余 yu), is one of the traditional, must-have reunion dishes. 

Common fish dishes for CNY includes fried fish , rabbit fish, fish head steamboat, and Cantonese steamed fish. The second dish of our Top 8 CNY Dishes series is a spectacular upgrade of the common steamed fish so you can wow your family this 2020.

So if you are looking to plate fish beautifully, here is home cook Jessie Koey’s recipe for a spectacular Abundance Peacock Steamed Grouper! 

Abundance Peacock Steamed Grouper

This dish both looks and tastes like a restaurant grade dish, thanks to the superior quality of the hybrid Longhu grouper from Apollo Marine Seafood. 

Groupers are known for their softer and mildly sweet flavour; however different species vary in texture and flavour. Crossed between a giant and tiger grouper, the Longhu grouper has a sweet and firm meat that raises the humble home cooked dish to that of a restaurant standard!

Specially bred in Apollo Marine’s sustainable land-based aquaculture fish farms with no antibiotics or growth hormones used, you can be assured you are getting safe and excellent seafood from them. Order the Longhu grouper here to your desired weight, cleaned, gutted, and have it delivered fresh to your doorstep! 

You might also want to check out their CNY Steamboat Hampers where you can get all of the best seafood for your CNY reunion dinners delivered to you at one go!

Apollo Marine's Fresh Hybrid Longhu Grouper

Here are the ingredients you will need: Whole Hybrid Longhu Grouper, lemon, dried shiitake mushrooms, chili padi, garlic, spring onion, salt, sugar, pepper, chicken stock, light soya sauce, sesame oil, carrot, and oil.

Begin with preparing the fish.

Carefully cut off the fins, head, and tail of the fish using a sharp knife. #Tip: use kitchen scissors to help cut through thick bones.

Cut off the fins first and discard them

Then cut off the head and tail. Set them aside.

Position the fish as shown in the image below, then slice the fish into one inch thick strips. Do not cut all the way through! Leave about 1-2 cm of the fish intact so that the slices are still held together at the stomach. Set the fish aside.

Turn the fish and make 1 inch slices, leaving 1-2 cm intact.

Slice up the whole fish

Next, cook the mushrooms and prepare the sauce for the fish.

In a pan, heat up some oil and add the garlic, chili padi, and mushrooms. Stir fry until the mushrooms are browned then remove from heat and set aside.

Stir fry the garlic, chili padi, and mushrooms

In a small bowl, add all the sauce ingredients and mix well.

Add all the sauce ingredients into a small bowl

Mix the sauce well

Place the sauce aside. Spread the sliced fish onto a circular steaming plate so that it fans out like a peacock’s tail. Place the head and tail in the centre.

Arrange the fish on a steaming plate as shown

Using chopsticks, lay one or two slices of mushrooms onto each slice of fish neatly. Pour the sauce over the fish slices.

Place mushrooms on the fish slices

Pour the sauce over the fish and mushrooms

Place the whole dish into a steamer and steam the fish for 15 minutes.

Let the whole dish steam for 15 minutes

Lastly, garnish the dish with blanched carrots, peas, and chili padi and your dish is ready!

Your Abundance Peacock Steamed Grouper is ready!

Get the recipe below!