thai steamed fish with garlic, lime and chili
Pla Nueng Ma-Nao - This is one of our family’s must haves every time we go to a Thai restaurant to eat. Between Peiching and my dad, they can finish an entire fish with a mountain of fried rice on their own. It was also one of the first few dishes my brother whipped up when he first got his own place. So it pretty much sums up our love for Thai food and this dish in particular.
This year, my brother had bought 2 Thai cookbooks for my mum for her birthday but decided to ship it to me instead due to shipping costs. So since I had it on me, I immediately flipped to the recipe index, looked for the fish and attempted it. Previously I had been very apprehensive about cooking fish as the ones I bought were smelly and fishy, but ever since I found this particular brand of frozen barramundi, I’ve been cooking all my favourite fish recipes. Eating this brings me so much joy and now I’m so happy that I can have it anytime I want HEH.
Recipe
Ingredients
2 frozen barramundi fillets
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 birds eye chili (chili padi), chopped
2 limes
10 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
A bunch of cilantro leaves
Method
Place the fish in a heatproof dish in a single layer or line the bottom of your steamer and place your fish on top of it. Chop the garlic and chillies finely. If you want more heat, feel free to add more chillies. Sprinkle the garlic and chillies over the top of the fish.
Mix together the remaining ingredients (except the cilantro and 1 lime) together and taste it to adjust the saltiness and the sourness. It really depends on the brand of fish sauce you use and the sourness of your lime. Pour the sauce mixture over your fish and then steam if for 10 minutes.
Remove the dish from the steamer, sprinkle some chopped cilantro leaves over the fish and serve with white rice.
