Chinese Style Steamed Mouse Grouper Fish with Soy Sauce, Ginger, Scallion and Cilantro (Resep Ikan Kerapu Bebek/Tikus Tim Hongkong)

Steamed Mouse Grouper Fish with Mushrooms, Soy Sauce, Ginger, Scallion and Cilantro

Recipe Chinese  Style Steamed Mouse Grouper with Soy Sauce, Ginger, Scallion and Cilantro or simplified as Hongkong or Cantonese Style Steamed Humpback Grouper. I want to apologize first for Dentist Chef reader before i writing any further recipe; it’s been a while since my last post. I was so busy about my clinical requirements, besides in fact  that  i’ve been moved to South Sumatra Dental and Oral Hospital (Rumah Sakit Gigi dan Mulut Sumatera Selatan). I guess the phrase “passion will find it’s way” isn’t as easy as is sounds. I realized it’s hard to find a way to posting a recipe between the daily patients, clinical reports, case presentation and stuffs, so then i need to put myself 100% into it and left blogging aside.

Live Mouse Grouper or Humpback Grouper Swimming in a Pond and Sneaky Pearl Lobster

Humpback grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) 0r mouse grouper, kerapu tikus in Bahasa Indonesia or 老鼠斑 in cantonese panther grouper,and also called in barramundi cod in Australia. Mouse grouper  is a reef  fish which can grows up to 70 cm. The mouse grouper shape compressed laterally and is relatively high. This stocky and strange visual effect is accented by its concave profile and its elongated snout which gives it a humpbacked appearance.

Resep Tim Ikan Kerapu Tikus atau Ikan Kerapu Bebek Kukus ala Hongkong

 Tim Ikan Kerapu Tikus ala Hongkong or Ikan Kerapu Bebek Kukus Kecap was the first ever mouse grouper i had in Bandar Djakarta Green Bay Pluit Seafood Restaurant. The live mouse grouper which swimming with it’s head facing down in a tank was tagged about IDR. 930.00)/kg (93 USD/kg). Pretty damn expensive for a sea creatures, not to mention that you charged extra IDR 20.000 (2USD) for cooking it. Right after you pick one of the mouse grouper from the tank and weighted it outm the restaurant will confirm the price and then right before they cooked it, the waitress used to come to your table to reconfirm  about the price, The mouse grouper was steamed in a simple soy sauce and sesame oil base broth, topped generously with chopped cilantro leaves and served with a dip of black vinegar, ginger and chopped bird eye chillies. Sounds boring, but trust me, your taste buds will apreciate the sweetness and the soft texture of the steamed live humpback grouper, eventhough in fact the chef cooked the fish a tad overcooked, yet it still taste superb when i eat it without any dipping sauce.

Beautifull Dotted Mouse Grouper or Spotted Humpback Grouper (It Changes Colori into Darker when It’s Stress)

Happily Guilty when I Finely Had Mouse Grouper in My Very Own Plate

Mouse grouper it’s famous high end expensive food for steaming fish in Hongkong, Malaysia and also Singapore.  Even the  flesh texture of the mouse grouper is not as firm and succulent as seven star grouper or chinese silver pomfret which is commonly used in Steamed Fish in Teochew Style Recipe, nothing compare mouse grouper natural sweetness. The secret recipe for a fine taste of simple chinese style steaming fish is within the ingredients and the whole processes. The fish must be fresh and preferred alive,  timing on steaming fish is crucial; then you better be checked the doneness of the fish every minute in the last 5 minutes.  Overcooked expensive fish will ruin your day for sure.

I purchased the live Mouse grouper from Iane Fish Market that located on Jl. Kebagusan dalam I no.42, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta. The mouse grouper in this recipe weighed about 700 grams and tagged  IDR 280.000 (40 USD/kg). Iane fish market is a trusted live seafood distributor that provide many kinds of farmed live seafood, including many kinds of groupers; including mouse grouper, coral trout, mud grouper. Beside, they provide several variant of lobster, including slipper lobster, bamboo lobster, and sand lobster. One thing for sure, they provide it with much more afforable price tag rather than fancy seafood restaurant like Bandar Djakarta Seafood Restaurant.

Iane Fish Market Proudly Showed Us a Live Mouse Grouper (and Tintin Syamsyudin as candidly background)

I was acccompanied by Tintin Syamsyudin, author of  Tinsyam.Wordpres.Com who happen as Jakartans food anthusiast who guide me when i was “foraging”  to get the live mouse. Well, actually i was hunting the fish market  throughout the Jakarta’s steel forest, damned traffic and crowded populated area of Jakarta, not to mention a big rainy storms that hits us right after  we packed the live fish, lobster and prawn and try to get home. Despite the hillarious journey we had that night, it’s a worthed and pretty great deal though;  it’s  all cost  half of the fancy seafood restaurant price.

Live Mouse Grouper in a Plastic Bag with Bubbling Aerator to Kept It Alive Pprior to Steaming It In The Next Day

Thanks God for having  Tintin Syamsyudin as a guide, i guess i won’t get there her. We were get to Iane Fish Market by afternoon at 6.P.M. I bring the live mouse grouper to my sister house with two layer of platic bag and i put some air pump aerator to kept the mouse grouper, the lobster and the prawn alive before i cooked it in the next day. I’ve posted the Live Lobster Ceviche Recipe before and i hope i can post the live prawn sashimi recipe later on.

Mouse grouper is pricey not only for the taste and texture but also as a symbol of status among chinese descent people. Serving live fish especially the rare ones like mouse grouper in a festive occations like wedding, birthday or simply entertaining relatives is a statement as a wealthy family. Some of the fishes is tagged even more expensive when it’s labelled as a wild catch, luckily my live grouper in this recipe is a farm raised from southern Lampung; clearly this made me feeling less guilty. I heard the farm involved in enviromental “green policy” that require reintroduced 1 baby mouse grouper to the the natural habitat for every five 10 they raised.

Since 2007, Mouse Grouper is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of  Threatened Species, because the species is naturally rare, so is sensitive to overharvesting due to its high value in the live food fish trade and to habitat degradation. Commercialy hatchery production is not intended for reintroduction, but instead for the aquarium trade, so does not result in an increase in the natural population or a decrease in demand as food. So, we should be responsible to not let our future generation only know mouse grouper from picture unless we stop eating mouse grouper; unless for one try shoots only.

Recipe Chinese Style Steamed Mouse Grouper (Hongkong Style Steamed Fish with Soy Sauce, Ginger, Scallion and Cilantro)

Ingredients

• 1 medium size live mouse grouper fish weighed about 700 gr, cleaned, gutted and scalled (you can replace with any white fleshes fish, live ones would be preferred)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup thinly slice button mushrooms
• 10 lokio or bawang batak (chives)
• 1 tbs of rock sugar
• 2 tbs of premium light soy sauce
• 1 tsp premium mushroom sauce
• 1/2 tsp of sesame oil
• 2 tbsp  of  angciu /chinese cooking wine
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 cm knob of ginger, finely chopped

Note: Mix all liquid ingredients and dissolved the rock sugar on it prior to steaming the fish

Garnish: Chopped cilantro

Dipping *optional : Chinese Black Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Jullienned Ginger, Chopped Bird Eye Chillies

How to Make Hongkong Style Steamed Mouse Grouper Fish:

• Rub the fish lighly with salt and lemon juice, set aside
• Put the sliced ginger, garlic and chives inside the fish belly
• Put the fish in heatproof steaming pyrex bowl
• Steam the fish about 2 minutes until half done
• Discard the dripping liquid
• Put the rest of the ingredients (except the garnish)
• Steam the bowl in your highest fire for about 10-15 minutes
• Put the fish in a serving plate, garnish with chopped cilantro

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Teochew Style Steamed Fish Recipe with Seven Star Grouper

Teochew Style Steamed Fish Recipe with Seven Star Grouper

Teochew style steamed fish recipe or Resep Tim Ikan Ala Tio Ciu in Bahasa is so easy to replicate in your home, the freshness of the fish is the key of slurrping delicious steaming fish. Teochew style steamed fish is a very tasty and refreshing dish compare to the cantonese style steamed fish. Teochew style steamed fish usually seasoned with garlic, ginger, scallion and light soy sauce, it’s sounds like almost the same with the cantonese, but wait a minute, the starlight of the seasoning is the salted vegetables (preserved mustard green or radish), tomato and also salted plum.

Teochew or Chiuchow Style Steamed Seven Star Grouper Fish Recipe

Teochew or Chiuchow style steamed fish got a kicking broth because the salted plum and tomato give a tangy sensation to the broth and it’s blended with the savoury and salty preserved and salted vegetables. Thinly sliced chillies enrich dripping liquid with a touch of spicy flavour. I guess most of Indonesia descent like me would love any kind of spicy, sour and salty fish. Some people like to add thinly sliced lard, bacon or pork belly which is rendered before steaming, but since i wanna my chinese style steamed fish lean, healthy and low in calories, i omit this ingredients and replace it with chinese sausage or lap cheung.

Steamed Leopard Coral Trout or Seven Star Grouper in Teochew Style

I’m using seven star grouper for making this Teochew or Chaozhou style steamed fish Seven star grouper got many names, it’s called as coral trout or leopard coral grouper in Australia and mostly Wastern Country, Seven star grouper it’s famous high end for steaming fish name in Hongkong, Malaysia and also Singapore. We used to called this vividly red beautifull fish as kerapu lodi or kerapu merah in Indonesia, which is translated as red grouper in Bahasa. Even the  flesh of the seven star grouper is not as firm and succulent as chinese silver pomfret which is commonly used to be steamed in teochew style, nothing compare seven star grouper natural sweetness.I purchased this live red coral trout or seven star grouper fo about 18 USD for about 400 grams (42 USD/Kg) in Grand Lucky Supermarket, Jakarta.

Preserved Salted Vegetables (Chinese Radish)

White, Sweet and Succulent Red Seven Star Grouper with Tangy and Salty Broth Teochew Style

The freshness of the fish is the key for making a delicious steaming fish without any muddy aromas.  First, you should choose the freshly catch fish or live fish that swimming in the tank is preferred. Rub and also brush throughly the fish upper cavity ribs area, below the fish back bone, there’s a blackish dark red organ which is actually the fish kidney that should be fully removed or your steamed fish gonna be muddy and fishy. Some people like to steamed the fish twice. Firstly, the fish was steamed until half done, and then the dripping liquid is discarded, after that  the rest of the ingredients added and the fish is steamed until done. I’ve never discard the liquid once i handle a live fish (except freshwater fish) because you just discarded the nutritional juice from the fish, what a waste.

Steamed Fish with Salted Plum, Preserved Vegetables, Chilli, Ginger, Mushrooms, Tofu and Tomatoes (Teochew Style)

Eating steamed fish or steaming food diet it’s a part of a healty living. Steaming food preserved it’s natural taste and most of it’s nutrients  withoud adding enormous ammount of unnecessary calories. Don’t you know that deep frying fish can triple it’s calories??? Don’t be shock that deep fried fish infact left only half amount of it’s proteins and vitamins due to high heating that can reach about 180C compare to 100 C of steaming process. Beside, the natural unsaturated fatty acid mostly retain in steaming process. Unsaturated Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acid  considered as a GOOD FAT that cleanse clotted cholestrol or BAD FAT in your capilary. I guess it’s better be increased  steaming food intake in your daily life from now on. Boring taste of steamed fish it’s not an excuse now, it’s before you try thi s teochew or Chiuchow style steamed fish (grouper)

Teochew Style Steamed Fish Recipe with Seven Star Grouper Fish

Teochew  Style Steamed Fish (Seven Star Grouper) Recipe:

Teochew Style Steamed Fish Seasoning Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized live seven star grouper (400-500 gr), you can substitute it with other white flesh fish that suitable for steaming
• 1 pack silken tofu, cubed
• 2 dried chinese mushrooms, soaked 1o minutes, drained, thinly slices
• 50 gr lotus root, thinly slices *optional
• 2 slice of bacon or pork belly, renderred the fat with low heat skillet (i’m using 1 chinese sausage instead)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tomatoes, halved and then sliced each half into quarters
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 slice salted apreserved vegetables (about 50 gr), rinsed and soaked for about 10 minutes, drained
• 2 salted plums, rinsed (usually available in Asian grocery stored, sold in jars)
• 4 cm (tiny thumb size) ginger, thinly slices
• 2 stalks scallions, thinly slices
• 2 cayenne chilli pepper, deseeded, jullienned
• 2 bird’s eye chilli peppers, chopped
• 4 tbsps water
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp Chinese rice wine
• 1 tbsp light fish sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Garnish: thinly sliced chilli and scallion, soaked in cold water until curled and patted dry before use

How to Make Teochew Style Steamed Fish (Seven Star Grouper):

• Gutted, scalled and remove the fish gills, rub and discard the blackish dark red part in the fish upper ribs area (below the back bone)
• Wash and clean the fish under running water
• Pat dry the excess moisture using kitchen paper, set aside
• Butterfly the fish from the belly and revove the pin bones with clean tweezer or pliers, you can see the instruction how to butterfly the roundfish from the belly side
• Season the fish with salt, pepper and lemon juice, set aside
• Place the cubed tofu in the bottom of the heat proof pyrex bowl, put the butterflied fish on top of it
• Put the remaining teochew style steamed fish ingredients over it

Fully Loaded Steamed Fish in Teochew Style with Lots and Lots of Tomatoes, i’m Feeling Slimmer Already!!!

• Steamed it for about 10-12 minutes, according to the size of your fish
• Put the teochew style steamed fish in a serving bowl and garnish
• Served it with steaming hot rice

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