Although this dish is called Steamed Chicken and Fish, there are more vegetables than chicken and fish. It is almost like a steamed version of Yosenabe. Two dipping sauces give you a dining experience as if you are having two different dishes.
I used a single-serve bamboo steamer to steam the ingredients but you can steam them in a different way as described in note 4.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
Cut fish and chicken into large bite-size pieces (note 3). Sprinkle cooking sake over them and leave for 10 minutes. Pat dry them.
Cut the stem part of Chinese cabbage crosswise into 5cm / 2" long pieces. Leave a large portion of the soft leaves uncut (this will be used as a liner when steaming). If the stem is very wide, cut the stem vertically in half first.
Divide the shimeji mushrooms into 2-3 small clusters.
Diagonally cut green onion to 5cm / 2” long.
Cut a carrot to 5cm / 2” long, then slice vertically to 2-3mm / 1⁄16- ⅛” thick. If the rectangle is very wide, halve it vertically. Alternatively, slice the carrot diagonally.
Cut pumpkin crosswise to 8mm / 5⁄16” thick so that each piece has the skin on.
Line the bottom and the side of the bamboo steamer (note 4) with the large soft Chinese cabbage leaves, then place the rest of the cabbage on one side of the steamer, clustering together.
Place pumpkin, green onion, carrots, shimeji mushrooms, fish, and chicken in the steamer, clustering each ingredient together (note 5).
Transfer the bamboo steamer onto a large plate and serve with Ponzu and Sesame Dipping Sauce.
Grate sesame seeds in mortar and pestle until most seeds are finely grated.
Add the remaining Sesame Dipping Sauce ingredients and mix well.
1. Other than ponzu, ingredients (condiments) are optional, but I would recommend at least one condiment to be served with ponzu.
Instead of making ponzu at home, you can buy a bottle of ponzu at Japanese/Asain grocery stores.
2. You can use normal brown miso. If you are using sweet miso, e.g. Saikyo miso, omit sugar.
3. I cut each ingredient into 3 pieces.
4. I used a small bamboo steamer that was just right for one serving.
If you don’t have a bamboo steamer, you can place ingredients in a steamer basket (if your steamer comes with it).
Alternatively place a small casserole/gratin dish inside a large pot, lifted with 3 balls of aluminium foil or ramekins of the same height.
5. Try to make the colour balance of the ingredients right. As you can see in my photo, I did not place carrot and pumpkin next to each other because they are similar colours. Ensure that you can see all the ingredients when packed in the steamer, i.e. none of the ingredients are completely hidden by other ingredients.
6. I happened to have these ingredients in my fridge. Instead of king fish, you can use any other kind of fish with firm flesh. Meat can be chicken breast fillet, chicken tenderloin or thinly sliced pork.
You can also use other vegetables as long as they are good for steaming.
7. Nutrition per serving. It is assumed that Sesame Dipping Sauce is used.
serving: 518g calories: 477kcal fat: 26g (40%) saturated fat: 5.1g (26%) trans fat: 0.1g polyunsaturated fat: 8.8g monounsaturated fat: 9.8g cholesterol: 125mg (42%) sodium: 1296mg (54%) potassium: 1528mg (44%) carbohydrates: 29g (9%) dietary fibre: 8.9g (36%) sugar: 8.6g protein: 38g vitamin a: 300% vitamin c: 139% calcium: 40% iron: 49%