Perhaps, I haven’t mentioned it yet but my mother couldn’t cook if her life depended on it. Okay, that may be exaggerated. The truth is, she did not like to cook. And she didn’t unless she had to. I used to say there were only only three dishes that she could cook — menudo, adobo (my version includes button mushrooms) and chicken curry — all of which were always too soupy to be called stews. Then, I remembered… there was one dish that she did cook well — steamed fish with potato wedges and mayo sauce. And I understand perfectly now why she could cook it so well — it’s a very simple recipe that does not involve too many ingredients nor too many steps.
This is my version, an improvement I’d like to think, which entails a little extra work but still easy even for the inexperienced home cook.
Serves 2 to 3.
Ingredients:
To steam the fish
800 g. to 1 kg. of whole fish (I used plapla), cleaned, scored and salted
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, shredded
2 cloves of garlic, minced
a bunch of onion leaves, tied
To complete the dish
2 to 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into sticks (about 2-1/2 inches long and 3/4 inch deep and wide)
4 tbsps. of butter
fish stock or broth plus enough water to measure 1-1/2 cups
3 to 4 tbsps. of mayonnaise
salt
pepper
3 to 4 tbsps. of finely sliced onion leaves
Stuff the ginger, garlic and tied onion leaves into the cavity of the fish. Place the fish on a heatproof plate. Steam for 20 to 30 minutes.
Heat the butter in a non-stick pan. Lightly fry the potatoes just until the edges start to brown. Pour in the fish stock or broth (I used the liquid from the steamed fish — very, very tasty) and water. Bring to the boil. Stir in the mayo until dissolved. Add the sliced green onion leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Stir. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes or just until the potatoes are done.
Pour the sauce and potatoes over the fish. Serve at once.
Looks yummy. Can’t wait to try it.
My mom used to cook this too! Yummy! I tried your pesto pasta recipe that I read somewhere here and the bf and his family loved it. Now I’m mustering my cooking skills for this. Wish me luck Ms. C! hehe
Trina, you’ll do it like a pro
Hi Connie, di ba matinik ang plapla? I want to cook this for my DH’s birthday this Saturday. And if I wrap it in reynold’s wrap instead and use a steamer, would it make enough fish broth?
Olive, no hindi sya matinik. If you wrap it in foil, just make sure that it is sealed well so that the juices don’t drip.
i tried this recipe yesterday. it was yummy! i used tilapia fish. my husband does not like tilapia much but he sneaked into the kitchen and got a second serving of rice. wala tuloy akong baon today hahaha.
just an observation… generally, when cooking the sauce separately, it tastes different when you taste the sauce by itself and when it is already poured over the meat/fish. i’m paranoid and am sometimes afraid of pouring the sauce in agad because bka disaster pa ang taste. hehehe. anyway. before adding it to the fish, it tasted like mayo in water, but when it was added to the fish na, i could hardly tell it was made from mayo. galing!
I am so happy to find this site last night. Must have spent 3 hours reading the recipes and articles. Decided to try the whole fish with mayo for dinner today. Between my husband and me, we finished the whole tilapia and had some sauce to spare. Just wondering how this would turn out using tilapia fillet- no bones or skin. This is more available here in Texas supermarkets without me having to drive quite a distance to an Asian market. Again, thanks for sharing your culinary expertise. Makes me miss the Philippines even more.
Hello Connie,
Thank you for this wonderful site! Buti na lang I accidentally stumbled on it while cruising fro recipes. You’ve got such a creative style of cooking.
Hubby and I are into Low Carb and High protein diet….and I’ve found some of your recipes can be re-adjusted to fit the diet.
I’ve added this site to my fave.
im definitely gonna try this! looks so yummy!
Connie, I tried this recipe last Sunday, and as usual hit na naman sa husband ko. I used XL size bisugo fish and also added some toasted garlic bits on top before serving. Ang sarap na naman ng Sunday lunch namin. Thanks! thanks!!
Hi! Ms. Connie,
I just tried this recipe for lunch and it was great! I like the blend of the mayo sauce and my friends appreciated it a lot. I used maya maya fish instead of pla pla. I did prepare according to your instructions and really it was fantastic.
thank you for sharing this recipe! more power!