ปลาเนื้อนิ่มSteamed fish

The sea bream, laid over the lemongrass and the kaffir lime, steamed on the gentle 90–100 °C heat until the center flakes with the back of a spoon, and the fish-sauce–lime–chili dip doing the seasoning instead of the heat. The fish is not cooked by the fire; it is set by the steam, and the dip, made on the side, is the half of the plate that carries the salt.

The page is the steaming article, on the big end, with the sauces 101 article's fish-sauce–lime–sugar spine on the side. The gentle steam, the lid that stays on, and the pull on the center are the three rules the steamed egg page already does on the small end, and the nam yik is the dip of the section, in this dish the nam chim — the same spine, cut with the chili and the garlic instead of the sugar.

Origin

The market, and the river — the plain table

Difficulty

2 / 5

Servings

4

Prep

15 min

Cook

12 min

Total

~27 min

Equipment

• A wide, shallow steamer, or a plate set over the pan of simmering water, so the fish lies flat and the steam comes up from below, not down from the lid
• A long, narrow knife, for the two or three cuts that let the steam reach the center — the fish, whole, needs the cuts to be cooked through, and the cuts are the one the steaming article's "the center, just set" pull is about
• Small plates for the dip, the cucumber and the lime — the table, three, as the Thai section does it

Ingredients

• 400 g of the sea bream, or the basa if the day is leaner, the belly skin on, the one the steaming article's gentle hold is tuned on
• 4 stalks of lemongrass, the white ends, bruised and cut the 2 cm long, the bed the fish sits on
• 6 kaffir lime leaves, torn, the massaman article's own leaf, in this dish without the spice
• 2 scallions, the green and the white, cut the 3 cm long
• 1 tomato, the middle, six slices, the 5 mm thick
• 1 tbsp of the fish sauce, over the fish before the steam does its work
• 1 small pinch of salt, over the lemongrass bed, the sauces 101 article's "the salt, in the dip, not in the fish" line, on the bed instead
• 1 tbsp of the oil, over the lemongrass, the pad krapow article's oil, in this dish doing the bed instead of the wok
• The dip (the nam chim)
• 3 tbsp fish sauce, the salt
• 2 tbsp of the lime juice, the sour, from 1 lime, cut in four
• 1 small chili, the seeds in, or to two if the day runs hot
• 2 cloves of garlic, the outer skin on
• 2 small shallots, the outer skin on
• 1 tbsp of the sugar, the palm if you have it, the sauces 101 article's spine
• 2 tbsp of the water, to thin the dip to the sauces 101 article's nappe
• 1 cucumber, the middle, 1 cm thick, the satay article's cucumber, in this dish on the side instead of the skewer

Method

1. The fish, and the two cuts. The sea bream, scaled and the belly cleaned, and the two or three cuts with the long, narrow knife, 1 cm deep, so the steam reaches the center without the outside giving before it does. The fish, laid skin-side down on the plate — the cuts, in the flesh, are the one the steaming article's pull reaches, and the skin, the side down, is the one the pad krapow article does in the wok, in this dish in the steam.
2. The bed. The lemongrass, bruised on the board and cut the 2 cm long, the kaffir lime leaf torn, the scallion the 3 cm and the tomato the 5 mm slice — laid over the flesh, with the 1 tbsp of the oil and the 1 tbsp of the fish sauce over the bed. The bed, on top, is the flavor the fish takes in its own steam, and the sauces 101 article's oil does the half the heat does not, the way the massaman does it in the pot, and the plate, set, waits until the water is at its window.
3. The steam. The water, at its window, and the plate, set over the pan, with the lid on — the steaming article's gentle hold, the heat down, the lid that stays on, and the 8–10 min until the center, pulled with the back of a spoon, flakes with the faintest give, and the outside, just set, holds the bed. The pull is the flake, and the color that follows, and the fish, straight off the steam, onto the wide plate, with the bed and the lemon wedge over it.
4. The dip. The fish sauce, the lime juice, the chili, the garlic, the shallot, the sugar and the water, into the mortar, and pounded and then stirred, for 2–3 min, until the sauces 101 article's nappe is reached — the dip, turned with a spoon, should draw a slow, visible line, and the shallot and the garlic, broken fine in the mortar, are the one the nam yik does on the khao man gai, in this dish over the fish, and the chili, the seeds in, do the half the sugar does not. The dip, off the mortar, rests 2 min, and the spoon, the slow line, is the one that does the telling.
5. The table. The fish on the wide plate, the dip and the cucumber and the lime wedge on the small plates, and the bed, over the fish, as it is. The first bite, the fish with the dip, the cucumber on the side, the lime wedge as it goes, and the satay the half of the section that does the fire, and the khao man gai the half that does the plain, on the same register of the section.

Common failures

• The fish, dry around, with the center still raw. The heat, too hard, or the time, too long — the outside set before the center did, and the fish, the one the steaming article's pull is about, is the one that missed the window. The gentle hold, the lid on, and the 8–10 min, pulled on the flake of the center, are the three marks that keep the outside just set and the center at its window, and the one that is pale around and raw in the middle is the one that ran the heat too hard and the time too long.
• The fish, flat, with no flavor. The bed, the lemongrass and the kaffir lime, not on the fish before the steam did its work, or the cuts, the two or three, not in the flesh — the flavor, the one the bed is supposed to carry, is the one the fish did not take in, and the steaming article's "the flavor, in the bed, and the cuts, in the flesh" line is the one that does the half the heat does not. The bed, over the flesh, before the steam, and the cuts, the 1 cm of the knife, are the two that do the flavor the heat does not do on its own, and the one that is pale and flat when the plate is down is the one that missed one or both of them.
• The dip, thin, with the salt not read as salt. The mortar, the shallot and the garlic, not broken fine enough, or the water, too much of it — the sauces 101 article's nappe not reached, and the dip, the one that runs, is the one the fish does not carry with it. The 3 tbsp of the fish sauce, the 2 tbsp of the lime, and the 2 tbsp of the water, in the mortar, stirred to the slow, visible line, are the three that do the telling, and the dip, off the mortar, is the one that stays on the fish as it is lifted.
• The lemongrass, absent, with the bed flat. The one the section is built on, and the one the day ran without — the bed, the kaffir lime without its partner, and the massaman article's own register, the one the section does on the whole table, is the one the fish is missing. The 4 stalks, bruised and cut the 2 cm long, over the flesh, are the two that do the half the bed does not do on its own, and the one the day ran without is the one that reads as steamed fish, not as the steamed fish the name is.

Variations

• The prawn ( gung nueng): the same bed, and the steam, the 4–5 min of the gentle hold, with the prawn, the outside just set, and the center, the faintest give, is the one the tom kha kung does in the water, in this dish in the steam, on the same register of the section.
• The white fish, the plain one: the basa or the sea bream, the bed, and the steam, with the dip, the nam chim, and the cucumber on the side, and the lime wedge as it goes — the plate, as the Thai section does it, on the plain end, with the khao man gai the half that does not need the dip.
• The chili, the hot one: the dip, made with the 2 of the chili instead of the 1, and the seeds, all in, and the sugar, to 2 tbsp, to hold it, is the pad krapow register, on the same spine, with the satay the half of the section that does the fire.

What to serve with it

The khao man gai, as the half of the section that does the plain, and the satay, as the half that does the fire, on the same register of the section. The boat noodles, as the half of the section that runs in water, and the green curry, as the half that does the spice, are the two that the steamed fish sits beside on the table. The tea, hot and unsweetened, is the one the nam chim does its work against, and the plate, with the bed and the lime wedge, is the dish as it is.

Steaming · Nam yik · Steamed egg