“Bloody” is what my husband called this steamed milkfish with tomatoes and chili garlic sauce when he saw it. I’m addicted to my chili garlic sauce so I pretty much put it in everything these days, like the mussels Mussels, Lobster, Green Peppers, & Tomatoes In Chili Garlic Sauce Stir-Fry. Since I love tomatoes too, I figured it would add another dimension to this steamed fish.
When I bought this frozen whole milkfish at the commissary, really didn’t know what to do with it. A typical Filipino dish would’ve been just to fry it or grill. I wasn’t about to brave the weather outside to grill the fish so that was out of the question. Frying it was also out of the question because I know my husband would’nt like it that way. So I decided to steam it in the oven. My problem was, I don’t have a steamer for dishes like this. I have the one that came with the rice cooker and that’s just not big enough. Not to mention bad idea to steam a fish while cooking rice too. I’m assuming anyway.
So how did I solve this problem?
I remember a few steamed fishes recipes from the Pinoy Cook so I went on to search her blog. I found the Steamed fish in oyster sauce recipe. Inspired by that recipe, I created my own steamed milkfish with tomatoes and chili garlic sauce dish.
BTW, the frozen whole fish was already scaled and gutted. OMGosh, life is good 
. All I had to do was completely thaw it.
INGREDIENTS :
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1 whole milkfish (thawed, scaled and gutted)
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1 tomato, sliced lengthwise
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2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
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a small piece of ginger, chopped finely
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few drizzles of sesame oil
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salt and pepper
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4 tbsp (depends how hot you like it) of chili garlic sauce
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3 tbsp of oyster sauce
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a bowl, whisk together the garlic, ginger, chili garlic sauce and oyster sauce. Set aside.
Score (cut) both sides of the fish diagonally. I did 2 on each. Drizzle both sides of fish with the sesame oil. Then season both sides with salt and pepper.
Lay the fish on a piece of foil, large enough to cover a baking pan. Brush both sides of the fish with the chili garlic sauce and oyster sauce mixture. Try to put some sauce inside the fish too (in the head and stomach). Distribute any remaining sauce as well as the slices tomatoes on the sides.
Using another piece of foil, cover the fish, folding the 4 sides to cover making sure there’s a tent-like shape on top which allows the fish to steam. Gently transfer the foil covered fish on a baking pan.
Put it in the oven. Steam for 25-35 minutes.
I served this steamed milkfish with white rice and steamed asparagus.
FYI, the kids didn’t eat this. It’s too spicy for them. Even though my 2 year old would’ve eaten it though if I’ve given it to her. She’s such a foodie which makes me very happy .
