Steamed Pork with Salted Fish (Haam4 Jyu4 Zing1 Zyu1 Juk6, 鹹魚蒸豬肉)

This recipe was updated on 02 Aug 2013. Some instructions were changed.

Steamed pork is a dish I grew up eating and all Chinese Moms have a recipe for this dish. Steamed pork is usually never the only ingredient used in making this dish and there are innumerable recipe variations for additions. There is another recipe for Steamed Pork with Salted Duck Egg (Haam4 Aap3 Daan6 Zing1 Zyu1 Juk6, 鹹鴨蛋蒸豬肉).

This version uses salted fish, whose saltiness goes well with the savory pork flavor, and is an acquired taste. Salted fish is made by salting a whole fish and drying it in the sun. You can still buy salted fish at your local Asian market, but you can also get salted fish preserved in oil in a bottle. I prefer the bottled version since it stores easily and there is no fishy smell since the fish is immersed in oil.

On the surface, this seems like an easy dish to make. If this dish is prepared correctly, the steamed ground pork has a tender mouth feel when eaten. I have found, through many attempts, that if you add 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) per ½ lb. (250 g.), together with the other marinade ingredients, you get the desired result. Previously attempts that didn’t work used ground pork with more and less fat content, ground pork with small and large grind, and other binders (tapioca and rice starch).

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	350 g.	Ground pork (zyu1 juk6, 豬肉)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (goeng1, 薑), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (syun3, 蒜), crushed in a garlic press
1½ Tbs.	25 ml.	Corn starch (suk1 fan2, 粟粉)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (si6 jau4, 豉油)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (hoi2 sin1 zoeng3, 海鮮醬)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (siu6 hing1 zau2, 紹興酒) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (baak6 wu4 ziu1, 白胡椒)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (maa4 jau4, 麻油)
1 piece	1 piece	Salted fish (haam4 jyu4, 鹹魚)
		Water for steaming

 

Equipment

12 in.	30 cm.	Steamer (or larger)
9 in.	23 cm.	Plate or bowl for steaming
		Plate lifter

 

Instructions

1. Thoroughly mix and marinate the ground pork for at least one hour (or overnight) with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. I have found that 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) per ½ lb. (250 g.) of ground pork results in the best texture in the cooked dish. If marinating the ground pork overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Form the ground pork into an even layer in the steaming dish.
2. Salted fish can be bought in your local Asian market as pieces bottled in oil or dried (either whole or part of a fish). I prefer using the bottled version. If using dried fish, cut a 2-inch (5 cm.) piece and place it in the center of the ground pork in the steaming plate. If using bottled fish, take a piece out, place it in the middle of the ground pork, and optionally spread some of the oil from the fish bottle on top of the ground pork.
3. Fill the steamer with water and bring to a vigorous boil over high heat. Put the plate with the pork into the steamer and cook over high heat for 5 minutes before reducing the heat to simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the plate from the steamer with a plate lifter, and serve with steamed rice.