I have a special request for me to cook today because he said he is missing it. I decided to cook one of his favourite dish filled with his favourite parsley, garlic and chilli padi. Thai steam fish with lime sauce.

This is a simple dish with flavourful sauce. Don’t over cook the fish!

Ingredients Serves 3-4

1 Whole seabass, or any white, mild flavoured fish such as sea bream, tilapia, and various basses. About 400g
3 Tbsp fish sauce
4 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp palm sugar syrup*
3 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
Chopped Thai chilies, to taste (I added 5 coz we all love it spicy)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Chinese celery leaves, for garnish

* Palm sugar syrup can be made by cooking 1/2 cup chopped palm sugar with 3 Tbsp of water until all the sugar is completely dissolved. You can also use 2 tsp granulated sugar as a substitute.

Directions

1. Prepare the sauce: Mix together chopped garlic, Thai chilies, lime juice, fish sauce and palm sugar syrup. Set aside.

2. Prepare the fish: Make sure the fish is scaled and gutted. Wash and dry off the fish. Score the fish by making two diagonal, deep incisions on the thickest part of the fish on each side. Stuff the belly of the fish with some lemongrass (optional).

3. Steam the fish: Make sure the water in the steamer is on full boil. Place the fish on a deep plate and place in the steamer for around 8 minutes. The total cooking time will depend on the size and thickness of your fish. You can check doneness by lifting the thickest part of the meat with a fork to see if it flakes easily from the bones. If it doesn’t lift off the bones easily, put the meat back and let it cook some more.

4. When the fish is done, take it out of the steamer and place the fish onto another plate to prevent the fish from further cooking on its own from the heat of the existing plate.

5. Stuff Chinese celery leaves around the sides of the fish. Add the chopped cilantro into the sauce and mix. Pour the sauce all over the fish. Served with some jasmine rice.