Steamed Fish (foil or rice paper)

Another post in the "this is healthy" series. Also, this is relatively easy to make, you don't even need a big oven, a small one with suffice. And if you don't have an oven but have a microwave, there are tools that can help you to achieves similar results.

I know that a lot of people in Japan don't haven an oven but that a lot of people have microwaves, so I'll also try to factor that into my recipes.

Most of the microwave goods can be bought from brands like Lécué (a Spanish company) but I think these days 100 yen shops like DAISO, Seria or Can-Do also carry a huge variety of microwave goods. Just have a look the next time you go. Or if you have an oven-toaster, that works as well! You'll just have to make things a little smaller. Or you can steam it using a pan or pot but that requires some tools, too. Unless you already got them then by all means.

So, the method of cooking I'll introduce is very similar to the "nanban" types of preparing food. Or well, just 'foil wrapped salmon'. Super simple.

 

Things you need:

- tin foil

- fish of your choice (my personal favourite is trout salmon/rainbow trout)

- onions / leek

- carrots

- oil or butter

- salt & pepper

- garlic (fresh/grated/powdered, whatever you prefer)

- optional: ginger

- or really any seasoning of choice

- an oven OR a microwave OR a wok and a pan and a grid/rack (see below why) OR a steamer

 How to:

Season the fish and set it aside for a moment.

 

Then tear off a piece of foil that is about twice the length of your piece of fish and lay it onto the counter. The piece of foil should be big enough that you can comfortably wrap your piece of wish into it without leaving any openings. So be careful!

 

Put oil or butter on it and spread it out about the length of the fish. Put some seasoning on it as well if you'd like and then put the vegetables on top to make a 'bed' for your fish. Then put the fish onto the bed.

 

For the top, I recommend a slightly thinner layer of vegetables compared to the one at the bottom.

Close the little package by folding the sides up so that they form a triangle with the bottom, then fold the edges over or roll them into each other to close up the package. Twist the edges to make sure there are no openings. Then put the whole thing onto a baking tray and put it in the oven.

The cooking time will depend on the size of your pieces of fish. I usually use lower heat - as not to overcook my fish - so around 150-160 degrees Celsius for about 10-15 minutes.

If you're using a microwave oven to make this, make sure the pieces are very small as the heat of the oven might not be as high. If you do have a bigger one, you'll just have to cook it longer. Please check with the settings of your microwave oven beforehand.

Do not wrap the fish in foil when you use a microwave!!

If you're using a microwave, I recommend the method below:

The second method is the same at the core but has the added benefit that you can eat the 'wrapping'.

Instead of foil, use rice paper. I got this idea from YouTube. There are a few tutorials out there.

Here is one of the simpler ones:

 

 

Since the video is a commercial, of course the seasoning etc is based on the products the company sells. But you can use any seasoning you like. Stick to 2 basics though: there should be a tad of oil in there.

 

A tip for people who don't have a steamer or don't want to use a microwave. You can 'build' yourself a steamer if you have the following: put a cake rack/cooling rack over a frying pan or place it into a wok if you have one. It should not touch the bottom, actually, there should be enough space below it to put some water into the pan/wok and then still have space, so the steam can rise. Then cover the whole thing with another pan or pot, big enough to keep in all the steam (this is shown in the video, too).