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Baked Fish with Oyster Sauce

Recipe by Connie Veneracion
This baked fish with oyster sauce cooks inside the oven in a tent of aluminum foil. Technically, it's a combination of baking and steaming but who's splitting hairs, right?
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian, Asian Fusion
Servings 4 people
Baked fish with ouster sauce garnished with cilantro

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole fleshy fish , about 1.5 kg. in weight, scaled and gutted
  • ½ head garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 1 thumb-sized piece ginger
  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
  • 1 small bunch cilantro , snipped
  • 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley , snipped (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Rinse the fish, including the cavity, then pat dry with a kitchen towel.
  • Score the fish by making 3 to 4 diagonal incisions on both sides, about half an inch deep.
  • Season with salt and pepper, rubbing the seasonings into the incisions.
  • Finely mince the garlic.
  • Cut the onion into very thin slices.
  • Cut the ginger into matchsticks.
  • Take two large pieces of aluminum foil. One should be about six inches longer than the fish and the other should be three-fourths longer than the first piece.
  • Brush a tablespoonful of oyster sauce on each side of the fish.
  • Lay the fish on the smaller piece of aluminum foil.
  • Scatter the onion, garlic and ginger over the whole length of the fish.
  • Cover with the longer piece of foil, pulling up the center to create a “tent”. Gather the edges of the top and bottom pieces of foil and fold inward two to three times. Do this with all four sides of the foil.
  • Transfer the fish in the foil on a baking sheet and cook in a preheated 180C oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
  • Take the fish from the oven, unroll the edges and carefully peel off the top piece of foil.
  • Heat the sesame oil in a small pan until smoking and pour over the fish.
  • Sprinkle the snipped cilantro and parsley over the fish and serve at once.

Notes

Updated from a recipe originally published in April 6, 2008
Keyword Whole Fish