Steamed Red Snapper

A whole fish steamed over a bed of tomato and onion, in the plain style of turn-of-the-century American fish cookery. The one thing to change is the timing.

• An hour is far too longA 4-lb whole snapper is done in about 30 to 40 minutes over steam, or roughly 10 minutes per inch of thickness at the thickest point. Held for "an hour or more" the flesh dries and shreds; cook to 130-135F at the backbone and let it rest, or simply check that the flesh parts cleanly from the bone at the dorsal fin.
• Skip the turnTurning a whole fish at the halfway mark almost always tears the skin, and in a modern steamer the heat is even enough that it is unnecessary. Leave it alone.
• The steamerAny vessel that holds the fish clear of simmering water will do: a large roasting pan with a rack and a foil tent, a wok with a bamboo basket, or a fish poacher with the trivet in place. The fish should not touch the water.
• The vegetable bedSliced tomatoes and minced onion under the fish are there to perfume the steam and keep the skin off the metal. Salt them lightly. They collapse to a thin sauce worth spooning over the fish alongside the intended sauce.
• Season insideThe original assumes it, but a whole fish needs salt in the cavity as well as on the skin, applied 15 minutes before it goes in. Slashing the thickest part of each side two or three times helps it cook evenly.
• "Oyster sauce"In an American book of this date this means a white or cream sauce with poached oysters and their liquor stirred through, not the bottled Cantonese condiment. If you make it, add the oysters at the end and heat them only until the edges ruffle, about a minute.
• Buying the fishTrue Gulf red snapper is expensive and often substituted; any firm white whole fish of similar size works the same way. Ask for it gutted and scaled with head on, which holds the shape during steaming.
• YieldA 4-lb whole fish serves four generously, or six as part of a larger meal.