THESE FISHBALLS ARE GATHERING STEAM

 

Chinese bamboo steamer in my Spanish kitchen.

Look what I’ve got! A Chinese bamboo steamer, inherited from a friend. I’ve never used one before. Steaming foods is not a thing in Spanish cooking. 

Searching for ideas, I pulled out the only Chinese cookbook in my collection, The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook by Gloria Bley Miller (Grosset & Dunlap; 1970). Besides a useful how-to section, I found lots of recipes for steamed food. One of them sort of clicked, because it sounded so Spanish—steamed fishballs. The recipe calls for Sherry, but no soy sauce. With only a few adaptations, I turned it into a Spanish dish worthy of any tapa bar. 

Steaming makes very moist and delicate fishballs, so it’s a perfect technique for lean and flaky white fish such as sole or hake. I used (fresh) cod (which comes to Spain by air from Norway). The fish is not minced, but hand-cut into thin, short strips, so the balls have texture. I’ve added shrimp to both the fishballs and the sauce. 

Fish balls on two tiers cook over simmering water in a covered bamboo steamer.

Steamed fishballs, ready for plating. They are made with cod and shrimp, Sherry, mushrooms, serrano ham, red bell pepper, parsley.

Fishballs are served with sauce of shrimp stock and sherry with a few shrimp.

Steamed spinach goes nicely with the sherried fishballs.

A three- or four-tiered steamer, of bamboo or stainless steel, is perfect for cooking several foods at one time. If you don’t have a steamer, improvise with a heatproof colander or a shallow bowl set on top of an inverted cup in the bottom of a lidded pot. If using a bamboo steamer, to prevent foods from sticking to the slats, line the steamer baskets with leaves, such as cabbage, lettuce or grape, or cut a disk of baking parchment and poke holes in it for steam to pass through. 

Use a pan/skillet/wok wide enough to set the steamer in. Add water to the pan so it just comes up to the bottom rim of the steamer. Don’t let water into the basket where foods are placed. Bring the water to a full boil, turn heat down to a simmer, place the steamer with lid in the water, and allow the food to steam. The fishballs need 8 to 10 minutes. You may have to remove the lid and take one out to test it. For longer steaming, replenish with hot water so the pan never cooks dry. 

Steamer for vegetables too.

A steamer, of course, is great for simply steaming vegetables. I cooked a bunch of fresh spinach in it to go with the fishballs. If foods to be steamed include marinades, sauce ingredients, oil, place them in a shallow bowl and set the bowl in the steamer. 

The recipe for fishballs in the Chinese cookbook calls for dried black mushrooms, smoked ham, bamboo shoots, Chinese cabbage and ginger root. I have substituted dried níscalos (Lactarius deliciosus), serrano ham, red bell pepper and chopped parsley. I used olive oil to make the shrimp stock, adding a decidedly Spanish touch to the fishballs.

Steamed Fish and Shrimp Balls with Sherry Sauce

Albóndigas de Pescado y Gambas al Vapor, con Salsa al Jerez 

Sherry, Spanish ham to flavor fishballs.

Makes about 22 (1 ½-inch) balls

For the shrimp stock:

8 ounces small whole shrimp

Fish bones and trimmings (optional)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 slice onion

1 clove garlic

4 cups water

½ teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

For the fish balls:

¼ cup dried mushrooms

1 pound skinless cod fillet

1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon dry Sherry

1 egg white

¼ cup finely chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped red bell pepper

¼ cup chopped serrano ham

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Leaves or baking parchment to line steamer

For the sauce:

1 cup shrimp stock

3 tablespoons dry Sherry

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3 tablespoons water

Shrimp

Chopped parsley 

Use shrimp heads, shells for stock.

For the shrimp stock:

Shell the shrimp, saving the heads and shells. Refrigerate the shelled shrimp. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the heads and shells, the slice of onion and the clove of garlic, lightly crushed. Fry the shells for 2 minutes. Add the water, salt and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, simmer 20 minutes, until liquid is reduced by half. Strain the stock and reserve it. Discard the solids. (Only 1 cup of the shrimp stock is needed for the sauce. Save the remainder for another use.)

Make the fish balls. 

Cover the dried mushrooms with hot water. Soak them for 10 minutes (or according to directions on the package). Drain the mushrooms (the water can be added to the shrimp stock). Chop them finely.

Cut fish in slivers; chop shrimp.

Slice the cod very thinly, then chop or sliver it. Set aside some of the shrimp to use in the sauce. Chop the remaining shrimp. In a mixing bowl, combine the cornstarch, Sherry and egg white. Add the cod and shrimp and stir to mix well. Add the parsley, mushrooms, red pepper, ham, salt and pepper. Combine well. 

Line bamboo steamer baskets with strips of cabbage leaves or a circle of parchment paper. (If using the parchment, poke holes in it with a skewer so steam can rise.) 

Form balls by hand.

The fish mixture will be quite squishy. Make walnut-sized balls of it by pressing in the palm of the hand. Place them in the steamer baskets about an inch apart. Stack two or more tiers, as necessary. Add enough water to the large pan or wok to come up to the bottom rim of the steamer basket. Place on high heat and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat so the water simmers. Place the steamer in the pan of water and cover the steamer with the lid.

Steam the fishballs until they are firm, 8 to 10 minutes. (Remove the lid and take out a fishball to test it for doneness.) Remove the steamer from the heat. Remove the lid to release the steam. Using protective gloves, lift the steamer out of the pan of hot water. 

Steamer basket is lined with baking parchment that has been perforated so steam can rise. The other basket is lined with pieces of cabbage leaves. 

For the sauce: 

Heat the shrimp stock with the Sherry until the alcohol has cooked off, 2 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and water. Whisk the cornstarch into the shrimp stock and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and add the reserved shrimp. Stir in the reserved chopped parsley.

Serve the fish balls with the Sherry sauce. 

Fishballs with Sherry/shrimp sauce.

Here are some more sauces that would complement the steamed fishballs: 

Sour Orange Sauce.

Green Chile Sauce (Mojo Verde).

Garlic Mayonnaise (Alioli).

Ham and Mushroom Sauce.

Caper Dressing for Fish.

Olive Sauce.

Tartare Sauce with Seaweed.

Not Spanish, not Chinese, I'm going to slather those leftover fishballs with some creamy horseradish sauce. 

Another recipe for steamed fish: Hake Steamed with Seaweed.