Poached Whole Big Fishes (So easy!)

This dish, my father-in-law absolutely adore! When Don and I were just married, and I heard that my father-in-law loved to eat fish, I always made sure there was a fish dish on the table, whenever we had them over for dinner. But this particular recipe was special!

When I first presented it on the table, I could see from their scrutinising faces that they didn't believe their daughter-in-law----who came from a rather snobbish family and had been waited upon hand and foot through generations of maids!----could cook fish. And not just fish, but a whole one, complete with garnishing on the sides and the top. I pretended not to see them scrutinising the dish for failures to cook it through and strutted back to the kitchen with my chin held high. The last scene I saw before I was out of sight from the dining table was my mother-in-law relentlessly picking at the flesh with her chopsticks to see if anything would fall apart. Well, they would be wrong of their lowly opinion of my cookery skills. Ha! Did they not know that I had even received a culinery award for this dish?

Actually, the account of the award was really quite funny. It happened when I was in Manchester (where else?) and staying in a catered hall. On the weekends, there was no food catering, so the students had to make their own meals. My room-mate, a fellow Singaporean, and I shared food money, and I had prepared to cook this fish dish for our dinner. The way to cook the whole fish is to submerge it completely in hot water. So I had this whole fish submerged in a covered wok of hot water perged on a chair as theren't enough space in the kitchen. Then I left the kitchen to relax in my own room whilst waiting for the fish to cook. Suddenly, I heard this bloodcurdling scream coupled with clanking, rolling metal sounds outside the room and rushed out to see what had happened.

My wok lid rolled to a stop at my foot in a resounding clang. I looked at my fish and saw that it had remained unharmed. Except for the slight undulating movements of the water in the wok, there were no signs of the upheaval that just took place. You see, the British were terrified of seeing any food with the head still on. And my whole fish had frightened the poor soul, whoever it was, who had walked by and probably opened the wok lid nonchalantly in speculation of what it could be since it was perched suspiciously on a chair.

And how does all this tie in with my culinery award? Well, it was tradition for the halls of residence to dish out awards in the name of fun and laughter annually. There were those who received 'the cleanest room' award, 'the poorest dressed in the halls' award and so on. As for me, I received my 'Best Culinery Skills" award for the moment when I had scared the wits out of a hall mate with my submerged, glazed-looking fish. Apparently, the story had traveled throughout the halls saying how the fish had looked at the unsuspecting girl with its ghoulish eyes and tore her heart with fear. Anyway, I gained instant fame and was nominated the award six months later without any contention. I must say I had cleanly forgotton the incident until the award was presented to me complete with its justifications vociferously explained by the announcer, to my chagrin.

Enough said, here goes---the infamous poached whole fish dish!


Equipment:

1. Wok or saucepan (at least big enough to submerge your fish in)
2. Big spoon or ladle to slide your fish out of wok when it's done
3. A frying pan or griddle to fry your garlic (you can use a non-stick saucepan too if you wish)
4. Wooden spoon to stir-fry (or metal one is you're not using non-stick pans for your stir-fry)
5. Big plate to present your fish when all is complete

Ingredients:

1. Whole fish --- 1 big or 2 small (Any type would do, I've tried it with seabass and red snappers. They work the same.)
2. Oyster sauce --- 3 tablespoons
3. Cornflour ---- 1 teaspoon (or more if you like the gravy thick)
4. Garlic ---- 6 cloves (or as much as you like)
5. Oil ---- about 1 tablespoon or less (if you're health conscious)

Optional:

1. Tomatoes ---- enough to go around the plate for garnishing
2. Flat-leaf parsley or coriander
   

Method:
Boil a wok of water enough for submerging the fish completely. Once the water has boiled, switch off the heat and gently slide the fish into the water. Now I am assuming you know that you should have descaled and cleaned out the fish by now. If you haven't, you need to do that first. Simply use an apple peeler to remove the scales. Then gently slice the fish near the gills (just below the head) parallel along the fish body to part the gills and reveal the organs. Do not use too much pressure and burst the gall bladder of the fish. Otherwise, the fish will taste of bile from it and no matter what you do, you would not be able to remove the bitter taste. Once you have located the organs in the pocket of gills you have created, you can use running water to help the organs float to the top and remove them with your fingers. Actually, if you're new to all this and want to save yourself the hassle, just buy your whole fish cleaned from the supermarkets. The fish sellers can do it for you in a matter of seconds.

Next, let the fish poach for 20 minutes. Remember to switch off the heat, otherwise, the fish would overcook. The hot water that has just boiled is of perfect temperature to poach the fish to perfection.

Meanwhile, chop up your garlic or mince them. (Most times, I'm lazy and buy ready-chopped garlic. They only cost 99 cents from NTUC and are so convenient!) Then stir-fry the garlic in your frying pan (or whatever you're using). Once they become brown and crisp, remove them from the pan. Next, put the oyster sauce into the pan, add the cornflour with some water for thickening and heat your gravy.

Once your 20 minutes is up, gently take your fish out of the wok and place it in your presenting plate. Pour the gravy over the fish and sprinkle the garlic all over the fish body.

For extra garnishing, slice the tomatoes and encircle the fish on the plate so it has a beautiful mix of colours and creates a pattern on the plate. The flat-leaf parsley or coriander is nice to go over the garlic or just sparsely strewn over the dish for extra effects!

Result: A Whole Poached Fish in Oyster Sauce (You'll love this!)