Name: Tony Tan’s Hunan steamed fish with salted chillies and fermented black beans
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 4 snapper or barramundi fillets (200gm each); 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine; 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger; 1 Pinch of sugar; 1 tsp rice wine vinegar; 110 gm salted chillies (recipe below); 2 spring onions, coarsely chopped; 1 tbsp fermented salted black beans, rinsed and strained; ¼ cup vegetable oil; Salted chillies; 200 gm red cayenne chillies; 2 tbsp sea salt; 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Tony Tan’s Hunan steamed fish with salted chillies and fermented black beans

A multi-dimensional dish with briny, punchy and spicy flavours.

Serves 4

Prep

20M

Cook

35M

Total

55M

Skip to Recipe

“One of the best known dishes from Hunan province, I love it for its briny and punchy flavours,” says chef and cookbook author Tony Tan. “Made with salted or fermented chillies and fermented black soy beans – dou chi – it’s really quick and easy to cook.” Begin this recipe at least 2 weeks ahead to ferment the chillies.

Tan serves this dish with stir-fried Chinese cabbage, which he fries in vegetable oil with 3 halved dried chillies, 1 tsp each crushed Sichuan peppercorns and chilli oil, 125ml chicken stock, a dash of rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt.

Ingredients

4 snapper or barramundi fillets (200gm each)

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 Pinch of sugar

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

110 gm salted chillies (recipe below)

2 spring onions, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp fermented salted black beans, rinsed and strained

¼ cup vegetable oil

Salted chillies

200 gm red cayenne chillies

2 tbsp sea salt

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Method

1.To make salted chillies, wash and slice chillies. Pound chillies coarsely with salt in a mortar and pestle. Place chillies in a sterilised jar and stir in vinegar. Seal and leave to ferment at room temperature (2-3 weeks).

2.Combine soy, Shaoxing, ginger, sugar, vinegar and salted chillies in a small bowl. Place fish on a plate that will fit a bamboo steamer basket and spoon over chilli mixture and marinate (10 minutes).

3.To steam, top fish with black beans and half the spring onions. Place plate in steamer over a saucepan of boiling water. Cover and steam until fish is just cooked through (5-7 minutes).

4.Just before serving, place fish on a platter and scatter with remaining spring onions. Heat oil in a small saucepan until starting to smoke, taking care, pour over spring onion and serve.

Tony Tan

Styling by Olivia Blackmore

Ingredients

Method

Related stories