This super simple Asian Fish with Ginger and Soy recipe will become your new go-to weeknight meal that everyone will love!
After spending a month in Asia pre-pandemic, I was blown away by the variety of fresh fish options and methods of cooking them.
One of my favorites was a traditional recipe and super popular dish in Chinese cuisine – Cantonese steamed fish, often served for Chinese New Year.
When we returned back to the states, I adapted the recipe for a quick skillet meal and made it exactly 493 times over the last few years.
Every time I make it, I’m transported to the Asian market in Singapore, sitting at a large, round communal dinner table with fragrant sesame oil, ginger, garlic and lemon grass wafting through the air. The sound of families laughing, music and vendors and chefs calling out orders.
Pull up a chair. I’ve saved you a seat. I hope you ordered your own fish…
Have you tried this Lemon Butter Sauce over Baked Tilapia yet?
What you need to make Easy Asian Fish with Ginger and Soy:
For the fish
1.5 pounds tilapia filets (or any mild whitefish), cut into 2-inch slices
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons canola, or other neutral oil
For the sauce
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, julienned or minced
¼ cup light soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon chili crisp
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
For serving
Fresh lime wedges
2-3 green onions, julienned
1 red chili, sliced or julienned
3 tablespoons cilantro leaves
Step-by-step instructions:
To begin, prep all of your toppings and aromatics. Julienne ginger and scallions, slice red chili, snip cilantro leaves and wedge a lime.
Next, combine 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon white pepper and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Dust over fish pieces. Set aside.
Next, make the sauce by combining 2 tablespoons fresh ginger (julienned), 1/4 cup light soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of chili crisp in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Set aside.
To cook the fish, heat 2 tablespoons of neutral oil (such as canola or peanut oil) in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add dusted fish pieces to the hot oil, ensuring they are in one layer. Cook for 3 minutes. Carefully flip.
Next, add sauce to pan by pouring over the fish. Bring to simmer and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Test fish for doneness (internal temperature of about 145℉ and easily flakes with a fork) and remove from heat
Top with julienned green onions, sliced red chilis and cilantro leaves.
FAQ for this Fish with Ginger and Soy Recipe
There are a number of good fish options for this simple dish. I’ve made it with almost every type of fish available to me, including: cod fillets, hake, red snapper, tilapia, catfish, Chilean sea bass, and haddock. Just about any type of white fish will work. It’s truly one of the most adaptable Chinese fish recipes I’ve cooked. While I chose tilapia for this dish, the list above includes great alternatives
Absolutely. While I have made this with the freshest fish from our local fish market, I most often make it with any white fish fillets in my freezer or on sale that week. Any fish in filet form is ideal. My favorites are tilapia (or basa) and hake – both abundant in Portugal. Tilapia, cod and haddock would be good options in the U.S.
The recipe calls for topping the fish with spring onions, cilantro and red chilis. It would be so sad to serve this without white rice, so please don’t make that mistake. The fish sauce is incredibly flavorful over white rice, but you might want to dial it up even more by serving Ginger Scallion Sauce. For side dishes, a cool cucumber salad (Din Tai Fung’s recipe) would be lovely, as would a steaming dish of Chinese Eggplant with Oyster Sauce.
While there are many delicious Asian fish recipes that call for deep frying a fresh whole fish, using the steaming method on a heatproof plate or even Chinese style oven baked fish using a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray, I found that this skillet recipe was a great way to keep the flesh of the fish tender and flavorful while maintaining a short cooking process. No large wok or bamboo steamer rack required! I have not tried baking this recipe – if you try it, please let me know how it turns out.
Leftover fish can be stored in an airtight container in the fragrant fish sauce. Make a quick fried rice the next day, flaking the fish into the leftover white rice and topping with the sauce, along with fresh cilantro and spring onions.
Explore more delicious Asian recipes:
- Easy Ginger Scallion Sauce
- Chinese Eggplant with Oyster Sauce
- Yaki Udon with Shrimp
- Easy Shrimp Hibachi
- Hibachi Grilled Vegetables
- Singapore Noodles with Shrimp
- Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad
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Simple Asian Fish with Ginger and Soy
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Those authentic Asian restaurant flavors of ginger and soy can be yours any night of the week in your very own kitchen.
Ingredients
For the fish:
1.5 pounds tilapia filets (or any mild whitefish), cut into 2-inch slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons neutral oil
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, julienned or minced
1/2 cup light soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon chili crisp
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
For Service:
2-3 green onions, julienned
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
1–2 tablespoons red chili, sliced (see notes)
Fresh lime wedges
Instructions
- Combine salt, pepper and cornstarch. Dust over fish pieces then set aside.
- Make the sauce by combining julienned ginger, soy sauce, water, sesame oil, sugar, rice wine vinegar and chili crisp. Mix to combine and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add fish one at a time, ensuring they are laying side by side in one layer (no overlapping).
- Cook fish for 3 minutes, then carefully flip over. Add ginger soy sauce to the skillet.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Test fish for doneness and remove from the heat.
- Top with julienned green onions, red chilis and cilantro leaves. Serve with lime wedges over steamed rice.
Notes
For the red chili, fresno or anaheim will work if you can find them. In a pinch, your local Asian market will likely have small red birdseye chilis – be warned that these are usually on the spicier end of the scale, so start with one small. Or you could throw all caution to the wind and grab a fresh jalapeno.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Asian
Keywords: easy fish, tilapia, asian fish, ginger soy fish, Chinese fish
Yum! I made this with cod because that it what I had, and it is delicious with cod too. I loved the sauce so much.
★★★★★
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed this ginger soy fish recipe, Sheri! And thanks for taking the time to let me know. It’s one of my personal favorites, too. Hang on to that chili crisp – more recipes with this star ingredient to come!