Thailand: Steamed Chili Trout

 
This is one of the most simply delicious dishes that I have had the pleasure of cooking. To top it off it's ridiculously easy. Like every Thai dish, this one has those delicious tangy aromatic flavours and a lightness that's refreshing to the pallet. Due to it's large coastline, Thai dishes often involve a lot of different types of fish.  

Steamed fish has always been a love of mine. The meat keeps the moisture, rather than having that dry flaky consistency sometimes attained by frying or oven cooking. There's no need to own a steamer to prepare this dish. Creating a makeshift steamer is a simple job! Place a colander over a saucepan of boiling water. Then prepare your food, place it in the colander and place a saucepan lid over the top to keep the majority of the steam in. Voila, a makeshift steamer! Make sure that the bottom of the colander isn't touching the water in the bottom of the saucepan. Heating directly of the colander will make the fish cook faster than you want.

Ingredients
Serves 1 

1 trout fillet

1 spring onion

1/2 a chili

1 tsp chopped or grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic

1 pak choi
juice of half a lime

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 portion sushi rice/Thai rice

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Method

1. Place the trout fillet on a piece of foil.

2. Finely chop the spring onion, chili, ginger and garlic. Sprinkle them over the trout. (note: I love a bit of chili, but if you're not a lover of spicy food, perhaps half the amount of chili suggested!)

3. Arrange pak choi leaves around the outside of the fish.

4. Squeeze the lime over the fish and the leaves.

5. Trickle the tablespoons of soy sauce over the fish.

6. Wrap the foil around the fish and place in your make shift steamer/real one if you have it!

7. Bring the water in the saucepan to the boil. Then place the lid over the fish. Leave to steam for 20 minutes.

Whilst the fish is steaming make your rice, everything should be done a roughly the same time. There you have it, Thai cuisine in about half an hour. Easy, simple and tasty!