Published March 1, 1995.
When we tested steamed fish recipes, we found the two most important variables affecting cooking time to be the thickness and texture of the individual fish. Times are more affected by the thickness of the fillet or steak, for example, than by weight or size; as long as they are roughly the same thickness, an 8-ounce salmon fillet and a 1-pound salmon fillet take the same amount of time to cook. The easiest and most effective way to add flavor to our steamed fish recipe was to steam the fish on a thick bed of herbs or other aromatics such as onion, lemon, or ginger. A simple sauce drizzled on the fish added even more flavor.
This compound butter is easy to make—if the butter is softened to room temperature, the whole thing can be done in the blender. Though this butter is excellent with any white fish such as monkfish, cod, snapper, flounder, or halibut, it is also great with meat and poultry. The meat or fish must be hot so the butter melts over it. The compound butter holds a few days in the refrigerator or several weeks in the freezer and is great on vegetables as well.
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