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Recipe
50 min

Oven-Steamed Fish with Scallions and Ginger

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Oven-Steamed Fish with Scallions and Ginger
Author: Andrea Geary

Recipe By Andrea Geary

Published on August 6, 2024

Classic Chinese and French methods produce moist, flavorful steamed fish. We used the best of both and came up with an entirely new approach that's easy and equally impressive.

Time

50 min

Yield

Serves 4

Why This Recipe Works

Classic Chinese and French methods for steaming fish produce moist, flavorful results. We used the best of both approaches to come up with an entirely new method that's easy and equally impressive. We started by swapping the steamer for a tightly covered baking pan and the stovetop for a hot oven. Placing the skinless fillets on a foil sling allowed the fish to flavor the cooking liquid and made it easy to transfer the fish to a serving platter without the fillets falling apart. Removing the fish from the oven before it was fully cooked prevented it from overcooking when finished with sizzling ginger-infused oil.

Ingredients

8 scallions, trimmed, divided
1 (3-inch) piece ginger, peeled, divided
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
4 (6-ounce) skinless cod fillets, about 1 inch thick
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
⅓ cup fresh cilantro leaves and thin stems

Instructions

Cook along with these step-by-step instructions

step 1 imagestep 2 imagestep 3 imagestep 4 image
  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Chop 6 scallions coarse and spread evenly in 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Slice remaining 2 scallions thin on bias and set aside. Chop 2 inches ginger coarse and spread in pan with chopped scallions. Slice remaining 1 inch ginger into matchsticks and set aside. Sprinkle garlic over scallions and ginger in pan.
  2. Fold 18 by 12-inch piece of aluminum foil lengthwise to create 18 by 6-inch sling and spray lightly with vegetable oil spray. Place sling in pan lengthwise, with extra foil hanging over ends of pan. Arrange cod on sling. If fillets vary in thickness, place thinner fillets in middle and thicker fillets at ends.
  3. Whisk soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and white pepper in small bowl until combined. Pour around cod. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake until fish registers 125 to 130 degrees, 12 to 14 minutes.
  4. Grasping sling at both ends, carefully transfer sling and cod to deep platter. Place spatula at 1 end of fillets to hold in place and carefully slide out sling from under cod. Strain cooking liquid through fine-mesh strainer set over bowl, pressing on solids to extract liquid; discard solids. Pour strained liquid over cod. Sprinkle reserved scallions over cod. Heat vegetable oil in small skillet over high heat until shimmering. Reduce heat to low, add reserved ginger, and cook, stirring, until ginger begins to brown and crisp, 20 to 30 seconds. Drizzle oil and ginger over cod (oil will crackle). Top with cilantro and serve.

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Oven-Steamed Fish with Scallions and Ginger

Recipe By Andrea Geary

Published on August 6, 2024

Time

50 min

Yield

Serves 4

Oven-Steamed Fish with Scallions and Ginger

Ingredients

8 scallions, trimmed, divided1 (3-inch) piece ginger, peeled, divided3 garlic cloves, sliced thin4 (6-ounce) skinless cod fillets, about 1 inch thick3 tablespoons soy sauce2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil1 ½ teaspoons sugar¼ teaspoon table salt¼ teaspoon white pepper2 tablespoons vegetable oil⅓ cup fresh cilantro leaves and thin stems

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Chop 6 scallions coarse and spread evenly in 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Slice remaining 2 scallions thin on bias and set aside. Chop 2 inches ginger coarse and spread in pan with chopped scallions. Slice remaining 1 inch ginger into matchsticks and set aside. Sprinkle garlic over scallions and ginger in pan.
  2. Fold 18 by 12-inch piece of aluminum foil lengthwise to create 18 by 6-inch sling and spray lightly with vegetable oil spray. Place sling in pan lengthwise, with extra foil hanging over ends of pan. Arrange cod on sling. If fillets vary in thickness, place thinner fillets in middle and thicker fillets at ends.
  3. Whisk soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and white pepper in small bowl until combined. Pour around cod. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake until fish registers 125 to 130 degrees, 12 to 14 minutes.
  4. Grasping sling at both ends, carefully transfer sling and cod to deep platter. Place spatula at 1 end of fillets to hold in place and carefully slide out sling from under cod. Strain cooking liquid through fine-mesh strainer set over bowl, pressing on solids to extract liquid; discard solids. Pour strained liquid over cod. Sprinkle reserved scallions over cod. Heat vegetable oil in small skillet over high heat until shimmering. Reduce heat to low, add reserved ginger, and cook, stirring, until ginger begins to brown and crisp, 20 to 30 seconds. Drizzle oil and ginger over cod (oil will crackle). Top with cilantro and serve.
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