Catch, Cook, Serve: Hong Kong’s Legendary One-Stop Fish Market | Street Eats | Bon Appétit

oh we're taking a fair from AA to aine aine is known for one of the largest fish markets H you H but outside there's a little bit of a dawn Market where individual mom andp fishermen will go and catch fish they'll bring them back and they'll sell it right on the side of the harbor okay so there's a large scale fish market mostly speaking you can get fish that is imported or brought from elsewhere further away if you want the fish that's actually caught in the harbor usually slightly smaller but certainly caught by Mom and Pop individual operators this is where you go basically like a street market and whatever they get that day if you come here on our recommendation and you don't get what you want too bad the quality of the cash is dependent as most fishermen know on aund things it could be weather it could be skill but it also could be the mood of the fishermen whether they have have a doctor's appointment and they're rushing to get back this is just what I mean that's life right our friendch hunai runs a little restaurant where they steam fish for you they cook the fish for you and we're going to go meet her cuz she's showing us a little bit you take a look down here you have to fight for this space next to this railing and you look at what's fresh you ask them what's fresh they give you a price that's the transaction fish and the net in the it com back down so in English we're going to call this brown spotted grouper that's the best cat of the day now they're butching our fish on the boat our grouper at the back he's going to split it down the middle he's taking off all of the scales he's also ripping out the gills and then of the intestines inside because all of that stuff is fishy so when you steam the fish you really only eat eating the flesh it's a big fish oh the question might be what are we doing going to a market because we normally just cover the cooking here's the thing Cantonese people care about steamed fish that's what we're talking about today and for steamed fish half of the battle if not the majority of the battle is picking the right fish we're going to get a couple more in the street market itself above which chantai has a restaurant called ch okay now welcome to the out out Fish Market the seafood market let me tell you how this sort of works these are Hong Kong's indoor wet markets so each one of these stalls is going to be their own business and usually it's set up into multiple zones you see the meat over here tofu Goods over there but here today we're here for the fresh seafood the important thing when you enter a seafood market is to identify what type of business and what type of stall they have the Fresh Catch Seafood stalls that water when you see it is going to be a little bit muddier and the variety is going to be a little bit more diverse because it honestly is what they catch that day let's go over here to some other Sals so here is one of chai's favorite fish to steam it's called a humpback grouper really silky smooth and really high in gelatin so that after you eat it your mouth should feel a little bit sticky that is soul obviously French people love this roasted pan fried in butter nice and fatty cuz it Doesn't move that much first we have our grouper from before we're going to get a humpback grouper as well and then we're going to get that Soul nice different textures to show you let's get one more I want to see all the textures and be forting the bill so let's get one more if you're asking is this Fish Fresh the speed at which they swim if they're moving around more if they're not floating on their sides that's usually a good sign for good fish so this fish super Lively it's a more meaty fish compared to the so that we bought so we're just seeing it for texture whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa okay that's everything we're going to go upstairs to Chang and ask them to cook it for us what we're expecting different textures similar steaming me into the kitchen this is the Little Kitchen that they cook in sti's husband is the chef here there's a little walk for stir fries there's a little steamer for the steamed fish obviously and soup fish rinsed in cold water to get as much of that blood out that blood those guts that's the fishiness and that's the gaminess so she's rinsing it very very well under cold running water scrape up any little bits that the butcher might have missed grouper is one of the most famous and well-known types of fish here in Hong Kong people prize it for its color for its look as well as the flakiness of its flesh keep in mind that this fish that we have today was caught this morning buter a couple of minutes ago and now it's going directly into the steamer after it's been rinsed and clean it's going to be prepped and steamed directly on top of the plate that we're going to eat it on a little bit of salt is rubbed on just a little bit of seasoning the flats going to go on the side just so that as it steams it's going to render out a little bit directly into the Roar hot steel steamer chef says going to take about 15 minutes there is a difference in the bottom steamer and the top steamer in terms of the velocity of the steam itself I heard you're bringing a special guest my dad might stop by he loves fish he also taught me how to steam fish so can't do this episode without him this is the brown spotted groer you can see that some of this skin has started to break apart as it's beginning to cook the fat on this side has started to render into those little droplets over the top oh in English the direct translation is clean steaming the idea is to express what the fish is all about and nothing more so everything on top of it minimalist no Ginger because it takes over the natural fresh flavor of the fish only scallions steamed fish seasoned soy sauce that is proprietary to the restaurant though it's sweeter than regular light soy sauce and then just hot oil to bring out those aromatics of that scallion a little bit of a dance with the Flesh of the fish itself look at that collagen the shininess of the skin you don't smell fishiness at all you just smell the aromatics down the middle where that bone is this is the back that's the belly portion usually the nicest cut is going to be here for the leaner meat and the fatti meet down here you see how like individual pieces all come out immediately like grains of rice just individual little flakes by the way this is my dad this is the person who taught me how to cook and importantly the biggest proponent of steam fish I know this is your favorite dish right in all of Cantonese cooking nice seem s thank let me know what you think really firm flesh like it's been swimming around a lot which it has because it's wild fish cheeks yes it's not only is it going to be tender it's also going to be cohesive and one piece every time we go out to dinner we take out this piece give it to the person you love the most w w w w you right okay humpback grouper this is chai's favorite slightly silkier flesh and a a lot more collagen with sticky mouth [Music] oil aromatics need hot oil and direct contact for them to activate at the correct temperature if we steam with it we wouldn't get this flavor and we wouldn't get that wave of smells here's the soul nice fatty thin flesh totally different from the grouper last one this is the knife jaw spotted knife shop one of the best ways to enjoy steam seafood and steam fish in particular is with a nice bowl of rice that fattiness and that oil that comes off of the fish is going to mix with the soy sauce and any of the juices that came off of the fish on top of rice it feels like the essence of the dish these four types of fish are all very different the soul is all about silkiness slipperiness because of its fattiness free creamy silky buttery you know why French people like pan frying this in butter it's because the fish itself has that flavor the knife jaw is all about firmness the flesh is more dense cooked to the same degree but it's got bite it's got chew now chai's favorite oh yeah oh the fish flavor is very good like pink she knows her stuff it's sticky it almost sticks your teeth a little bit The Edge near the fin a little bit like small tender grains of rice and it's got fattiness but a very well balance with the intense fish flavor everything about the clean steam technique is about minimalism because we know the fish is delicious and fresh in and of itself whenever we talk about the cooking steam fish half of the battle if not most of the battle is picking the right fish and you can only pick the right fish in the right place here at ala you travel a minimum distance one floor up and they will steam it for you it's all about proximity and the lay of the land you can't eat like this anywhere else in the world yes so that was Chang in the AO fish market now on to the next

Channel: Bon Appétit

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Keywords: best street food in hong kong, bon app, bon appetit, bon appétit, cantonese steamed fish, food, hong kong, hong kong best street food, hong kong street food, lucas sin, lucas sin bon appetit, popular street food, seafood, steamed fish hong kong, steamed fish street food, street cooking videos, street eats, street food, street food compilation, street food in hong kong, street food recipes, street food steamed fish, street food tour, street food videos

Id: G8nDHmP9N-A

Length: 10min 37sec (637 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 17 2024