Steamed Dorado w/ Asian Flavours

I was out in Chinatown one day trying to get some frozen daing na bangus but I couldn't find one but I ended up finding this beautiful frozen Dorado. It looked really good and I thought I should get it and play with it a little bit.

I remembered having this beautiful fish on our trip to Bohol. We went to Balicasag to go snorkeling for a day and our boatman, Mang Felix was friends with some local families. He took us to one of the families who belonged to an environmental conservation program. They would keep and raise sea turtles then release them back into the ocean. They even let me play with their 2 year old turtle! It was awesome. I've forgotten their names now, it's been 5 years but I will never forget how nice, warm, welcoming and very hospitable they were. They are the quintessential Filipino family.

The man of the house is a fisherman and luckily he had some freshly caught dorado. We bought the biggest one he has and his wife grilled it for us. She made it in the simplest way. She seasoned it with salt and pepper and wrapped it in coconut leaves then grilled it in wood fire. It smelled amazing. She made a dip using soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, pepper, ginger, garlic and onion. I'm usually not fond of uncooked garlic and onion but I don't remember picking them out or anything. We ate it together and chatted like we've known each other forever. I swear it was the best meal we had during that trip. We had a great time. I swear if I ever get a chance to visit Bohol again, I will certainly look up this family in Balicasag.

Back to my frozen dorado. Yeah.. yeah, it has red eyes but that's because it's frozen and it thawed. I thawed it the fridge, soaked it in cold water and then cleaned it myself, yeah... like gutted it and all that gory bits, trimmed the fins everything. It was not the most pleasant experience but hey somebody's got to do it. My buddy wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole unless it's cooked and ready to eat. I thought I would try and recreate that grilled dorado we had in Balicasag but it would be impossible. Here's what I came up with. I really didn't measure anything and just eyeballed them so these are estimates.

3 tbsp sake

3 tbsp light soy sauce

3 tbsp kecap manis

2 tbsp chili oil, reserve half for drizzling later before serving

3 stalks of green onion (reserve some for garnish)

4 small sprigs of fresh thyme

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

5 Thai basil leaves, roughly chopped

2 tbsp chopped dill (reserve 1 tbsp for garnish)

1 tbsp chopped garlic

2 tbsp or thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 tbsp cilantro for garnish

1 lime sliced in 5 parts

freshly cracked black pepper to taste

salt if needed

Clean the fish, pat dry and lightly season with salt and pepper. Use a plate that is big enough to accommodate the fish and can be used for steaming. Put the plate in the steamer, then place 2 slices of lime, scatter some of the herbs, ginger and garlic but don't use all of it, reserve some for the belly and top of the fish (see the picture). Mix sake, soy sauce, half the chili oil and kecap manis. Spoon in a couple of tablespoons of this and drizzle over the arranged herbs in the platter.

Put a slice of lime and some of the herbs, ginger and garlic in the fish's belly, then put the fish on the plate inside the steamer then arrange the remaining herbs, ginger and garlic and 2 slices of lime on top. Drizzle with the remaining sake, soy sauce, chili oil and kecap manis mix. Cover and steam for 30 minutes or until cooked.

When the fish is cooked, remove the cooked lime and herbs on top of it and put in a heated serving platter. Strain the liquid on the steaming plate and pour it on top of the fish. Garnish with the reserved chopped dill, green onions and cilantro then drizzle with the remaining chili oil. I served it with plain steamed rice and steamed broccoli, I'm sure bok choy and other chinese greens like gailan would also work well with it.