New video: How to make Steamed Fish with Chili Garlic Sauce

Fresh seafood is always abundantly available in Thailand. In western restaurants, premium white fish like red snapper or cod is often featured. But the Thai prefer barramundi (Asian sea bass), carp, or catfish, which are much cheaper and more widely available. Asians prefer serving the whole fish complete with head and tail, but fish fillets will also work for this recipe. You can dust the fish with flour and deep-fry it in oil, which will get you a nice crispy skin. But I prefer steaming my fish since it is healthier. Either way, what makes this dish distinctively Thai is the use of hot chili peppers and fish sauce. Asian essentials like garlic, ginger, and scallions round out the flavors. Kick it up a notch by also adding a little sweet and a little sour, and now you’ve got the ultimate Thai main course.

This video will show you the basic steps in about two minutes (turn on the helpful closed-caption subtitles). The full recipe will take about 20-30 minutes to make. We will be making this easy recipe together at my upcoming Thai Night Market cooking class on June 5, along with two other Thai dishes. To prepare for this foodie adventure, you can rewatch Anthony Bourdain's 2003 Chiang Mai episode. Or you can browse the travel picture album from my 2011 Chiang Mai visit, which was the inspiration for this class. Full menu and details are here: www.cooking-with-paul.com/upd-2025-summer.html.

My Youtube channel now has five original "Easy Recipes" videos. You can view all of them here: @chef_paul_young.

 More information about my cooking classes and pop-up events can always be found on my website, where you'll also find over 200 recipes from my classes (no ads!). You can also subscribe to my email newsletter or follow me on Instagram or Facebook and like my posts. Bon appétit!