Thai · Lunch · Dinner
Thai Steamed Fish with Lime, Garlic and Chili
ปลานึ่งมะนาว (Pla Neung Manao)
A whole sea bass steamed until silky and tender, then drenched in a sharp, garlicky lime and chili broth. It is light, punchy and naturally low in fat.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 18 min
- Total
- 33 min
- Serves
- 2
Calories come from: Carbs 34% · Fat 13% · Protein 53%
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Ingredients
For 2 servings- 1 fish (about 700 g)whole sea bass, scaled and gutted
- 2 stalks40 glemongrass
- 8 cloves40 ggarlic
- 6 small6 gThai bird's eye chilies
- 1/3 cup (about 3 limes)80 gfresh lime juice
- 2 1/2 tsp15 gfish sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp6 gsugar
- 1/4 cup60 gwater for the sauce
- 1 medium65 glime, thinly sliced
- 1 cup loosely packed16 gfresh cilantro
- 4 cups1,000 gwater for steaming
Steps
- 1
Rinse the fish inside and out and pat it dry with paper towels.
- 2
Cut 3 diagonal slashes, down to the bone, on each side of the fish.
- 3
Trim the lemongrass, bruise the stalks with the back of a knife and cut them into 5 cm pieces.
- 4
Tuck the lemongrass into the belly cavity of the fish.
- 5
Place the fish on a heatproof plate that fits inside your steamer or wok.
- 6
Pour the steaming water into the steamer or wok and bring it to a rolling boil.
- 7
Set the plate in the steamer, cover and steam for 12-15 minutes, until the flesh is opaque, flakes easily at the thickest part and reaches 63 °C / 145 °F.
- 8
While the fish steams, pound the garlic and chilies to a coarse paste in a mortar or chop them very finely.
- 9
Put the garlic-chili paste, 60 g water, fish sauce and sugar in a small pan and warm over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- 10
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the lime juice; taste and adjust with a little more lime if needed so it is sour first, then salty, then slightly sweet.
- 11
Carefully lift the plate out of the steamer and pour off any cloudy liquid that has collected.
- 12
Spoon the hot lime sauce over the fish so it soaks into the slashes.
- 13
Arrange the lime slices over the fish, scatter with cilantro and serve straight away.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- Use two sea bass fillets instead of a whole fish and steam them for about 8-10 minutes, until opaque and flaky.
- Swap the sea bass for snapper, tilapia or barramundi if that is easier to find.
- Use 2-3 seeded red chilies or a milder fresh chili instead of bird's eye chilies for less heat.
- Replace the sugar with honey or palm sugar, stirring until dissolved.
Storage
This dish is best eaten fresh, but leftovers can be refrigerated in a covered container within 2 hours and eaten within 1 to 2 days, reheated gently until steaming hot. Do not freeze, as the fish turns watery and the sauce loses its brightness.
Make ahead
Pound the garlic and chilies and mix them with the fish sauce and sugar up to a day ahead, keeping it covered in the fridge, then warm it and add fresh lime juice just before serving. You can also scale, slash and stuff the fish with lemongrass a few hours ahead and keep it refrigerated until steaming.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
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Allergens and nutrition
Contains: Fish
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (1,014 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 256 kcal | 25 kcal |
| Protein | 34.8 g | 3.4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 22.3 g | 2.2 g |
| of which sugars | 4.9 g | 0.5 g |
| Fiber | 1.8 g | 0.2 g |
| Fat | 3.8 g | 0.4 g |
| of which saturated | 0.9 g | 0.1 g |
| Sodium | 739 mg | 73 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
