Asian Style Steamed Salmon

Steaming has to be my favorite way of cooking salmon. There’s no oil involved and all the flavors are trapped in. It’s like en papillote for folk who don’t have an oven- like me. Does it have to be Asian style? Well, yes, because 1 it’s fucking delicious and 2 it’s traditional. There’s a lot of ancient gastronomy in Asian cuisine when it comes to steaming food. And in my respect, Asian style steamed salmon is AMAZING and everyone must know about it!

Tools and Equipment:

1. Steamer
2. Parchment paper
3. Wok or frying pan larger than steamer
4. Knife
5. Cutting Board

Please Use a Bamboo Steamer

I’m only asking this so that I won’t get called out if your salmon turns out bad. Bamboo steamers really can add so much flavor to your dish compared to metal steamers. At the same time, it’s only good if you cook this recipe for one or two people. For full sized families or parties, that’s when I suggest the big metal steamer, unless if you have just one big bamboo steamer! Normally, you would just use multiple tiny steamers if cooking for larger parties rather than a big one. It can definitely change the cooking process too, so if you do use a big steamer, make sure you adjust the cooking time, as this recipe is only for one serving.

Parchment paper is good for holding the fish in the steamer, but you can also use tin foil. I don’t recommend specially designed steamer paper, because those has holes. In my recipe, the salmon is swimming in sauce while being steamed. You want to trap the liquid in otherwise it will seep through the steamer and all the flavors will be gone. If using a large steamer, I suggest using a plate instead of parchment paper. Just make sure it’s heat resistant or else the plate could crack.

How Does a Steamer Steam?

You’re going to want a wok or frying pan that’s slightly larger than your steamer. Add enough water to cover the bottom, but don’t fill the water to the point it touches the first compartment of the steamer. The water doesn’t necessarily have to be a rolling boil either, as long as steam is coming out, it will cook the fish. For the sake of time though, crank up the heat!

When I first started steaming, I would for some reason place my bamboo steamer on two wooden sticks, because I was afraid what will happen if the steamer touches the water. And then the sticks will catch on fire. Moral of the story is, the steamer has to touch the water. It’s okay! The water won’t do harm as long as it’s not touching the fish, because that will be a whole different cooking method, not steaming. Steaming is strictly when only hot evaporation (cough cough steam) touches the food causing it to cook. Yes, steam is very hot, hotter than just cooking in a skillet in fact, because heat travels quicker through steam than through hot air. So watch your fingers, the steam will bite them off!

Stir Fry Vegetables

This steamed salmon recipe has a fun bonus, which are the stir fry vegetables that pairs with the delicate fish. I used sliced snap peas, onions, and mushrooms, but of course feel free to use the vegetables you have on hand, whether if it’s green onion, bell peppers, or even asparagus. Don’t over cook the vegetables. Cooking time should be minimal, only allowing the vegetables to cook in high heat to just kiss the fire before pouring in the liquid and aromatics, quickly reducing to a sauce.

Saucy Boi

I try to keep my sauces simple while fulfilling the elements of taste- salt, sweet, sour, and umami. The fifth taste is bitter, but who cares? Go home, bitter! My ingredients to this sauce are shoyu (soy sauce), brown sugar, lemon, and oyster sauce. No, you don’t have to use those specific ingredients as long as it fulfills the elements of taste. If you don’t eat processed sugar (because brown sugar in America is just white sugar with molasses) of course honey or agave are good alternatives, or mirin to fulfill both sweet and sour. Make sure to use unseasoned rice vinegar, because for some reason there are thousands of different types of rice vinegar and only somebody like me who goes to grocery stores and look at every single item during their leisure would know that terrible fact. Unseasoned rice vinegar is only sour, seasoned will have salt which is unnecessary since shoyu is our salt. If you are soy free or a sodiumphobe tamari is a perfect alternative!

What kind of good sauce doesn’t have aromatics? Throw in that garlic, ginger, and lemon grass! Don’t cry if you don’t have lemon grass on hand, that’s ok! And with ginger, I just have a random time when I slice a whole bag and then freeze it. That way I don’t need to worry about slicing ginger ever again because it doesn’t lose its flavor in the freezer. Even if it does, I don’t notice because that ginger guy is just too strong! Let me out of the choke hold, you ginger!

SUPER!! Important Note if Making More Than 1 Serving

Since I only cook for myself, majority of my recipes are single servings. This also affects the process of how I cook, so I only cook the stir fry vegetables at the very end after I steam my salmon and use the remaining liquid to season the vegetables and reduce it to a sauce. If making more than one serving, I strongly advise to still multiply the liquid according to the recipe to the amount of servings you’re doing, but don’t use all of the liquid to season the fish. Use half of the liquid and aromatics to steam with the fish while cooking the stir fry vegetables in a separate dish, and use the other half of the liquid and aromatics for the vegetables. Why? In cooking, seasoning doesn’t equal the amount of servings you’re making. The seasoning liquid for one serving is also enough to season two or three servings. To be more efficient and get the food on the plate faster if cooking a larger amount, I recommend stir frying your vegetables at the same time the fish is steaming. The amount of time to steam one serving of fish is very minimal, but the larger the quantity, the longer it takes to cook. Living in a very tiny apartment that can only operate 1 burner at a time, my single serving techniques is adapted to this environment. In a larger kitchen with more people to feed, please plan accordingly.