It’s Sunday and were only two left in the house, me and my tatay. We’ve been eating pork almost the entire week and I want something to balance those fat. My dad asked me what will be for our lunch for Sunday and he suggested steamed lapu-lapu. He asked and he answered. However, I told him that lapu-lapu is expensive and I suggested that we can have steamed tilapia instead. It’s cheap and tasty as well.
The good thing about this steamed tilapia recipe is its simplicity. You do not need any high-falutin and expensive ingredients to go with the recipe. This steamed tilapia recipe uses oyster sauce, soy sauce, chopped garlic, onions, black pepper and grated ginger. Yeah! That is all to it. So everything is readily available in your pantry right?
You can add some onion leeks, parsley or your own choice of herbs if you want. However, this recipe brings out the real flavor of the fresh fish. The ingredients does not over empower the fish. It actually compliments the flavor of the steamed tilapia. you can also use this recipe to steam other fish.
I know tilapia has its inherent fishy smell right? The technique is to thoroughly clean its inside. Remove the gills and clotted blood and thoroughly wash its mouth. One technique I learned from my mom is to wash the inside of the fish with citrus fruit like lemon or our very own calamansi. Then rub the tilapia with salt, inside and outside. Then, wash it thoroughly.
In steaming the fish I added a two tablespoons of ginger and one tablespoon of powdered oregano into the steaming water. I let it simmer for 5 minutes before steaming the tilapia. You don’t have to steam the fish for too long or you will get a tough overcooked fish. I steamed it for 6 minutes and switched the stove off and leave it in the steamer until we are ready to eat, roughly around 30 minutes. This made the fish really soft and juicy. It’s has this melt-in-your-mouth texture.
For the dipping sauce, you can try a mayo-based or soy-based dipping sauce. However, I did not bother to prepare any dipping sauce to go with the steamed tilapia. When the fish was about to serve, I prepared an oyster sauce and soy sauce mixture and drizzle it all over the steamed tilapia. Then, I grated some ginger and garnish the steamed tilapia with it. I heated some olive oil until smoking hot and drizzled it onto the steamed tilapia. The oil brought out the flavor of the ginger and when it was mixed with oyster sauce and soy sauce mixture it created a nice soy-based juice. I simply scooped it out and drizzle it onto my fish meat.
Ingredients |
|
Fish |
|
| 1 piece | Whole Tilapia |
| 2 Tablespoons | Oyster Sauce |
Filling |
|
| 3 Tablespoons | Grated Ginger |
| 3 Cloves | Garlic, chopped |
| 1 bulb | Onion, chopped |
| 2 Tablespoons | Oyster Sauce |
| 2 Tablespoons | Light Soy Sauce |
| Dash of Black Pepper | |
Garnish |
|
| 3 Tablespoons | Oyster Sauce |
| 1 Tablespoons | Light Soy Sauce |
| 2 Tablespoons | Grated Ginger |
| 3 Tablespoons | Olive Oil |
Procedure
Boil the water for the steamer.
Thoroughly clean the fish and pat dry.
Rub the fish with oyster sauce and set aside.
Combine all the ingredients for the filling. Stuffed the fish with the pre-mixed filling.
Steam the fish for six minutes. Switch off the heat and leave it covered for 20 to 30 minutes.
When the fish is ready to be devoured, premix the oyster sauce and soy sauce. Drizzle the soy mixture onto the fish. Make sure everything is covered with the soy mixture. Garnish the fish with the grated ginger.
Heat olive oil until smoking hot. Pour the oil onto the fish and serve.
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