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Steamed sea bream with sizzling ’nduja

By: Pollyanna Coupland
Food producer, delicious.

Published: 1 May 25
Updated: 6 May 25

Steamed sea bream with sizzling ‘nduja and asparagus is the quick and simple fish dish you’ve been looking for. This three-ingredient wonder is full of flavour, ready in just 20 minutes and technically a one-pot meal.

Just three ingredients: Fresh bream, British asparagus and sizzling hot ‘nduja sausage are all you need to make this gorgeous seasonal supper. Surf and turf, eat your heart out.
Quick and simple: This speedy fish dish requires just 5 minutes prep and 15 minutes in the steamer.
Easy swaps: Steamed asparagus is beautiful when in season (usually late April to June). Tenderstem broccoli, baby carrots or mangetout are great alternatives.

Big flavours, minimal shopping: take a look at our 5 ingredient recipes.

Easy
May 2025

Test kitchen approved

Serves 2
Prep time 5 min. Cook time 15 min

Just three ingredients: Fresh bream, British asparagus and sizzling hot ‘nduja sausage are all you need to make this gorgeous seasonal supper. Surf and turf, eat your heart out.
Quick and simple: This speedy fish dish requires just 5 minutes prep and 15 minutes in the steamer.
Easy swaps: Steamed asparagus is beautiful when in season (usually late April to June). Tenderstem broccoli, baby carrots or mangetout are great alternatives.

Big flavours, minimal shopping: take a look at our 5 ingredient recipes.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 390kcals
Fat: 17g (5g saturated)
Protein: 57g
Carbohydrates: 1.9g (1.8g sugars)
Fibre: 1.8g
Salt: 1.6g

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Ingredients

2 small sea bream (see tip)
150g asparagus
2 tbsp ’nduja

Specialist kit

Large two-tier steamer

Method

Make a few slashes on each side of the fish, just breaking the skin, and season with salt and pepper. Line a large steamer basket with baking paper, then lay the fish inside. Put over a large pan of simmering water and steam for 15 minutes.
Trim the woody ends off the asparagus spears (save for stock) and put in the second steamer basket. After the fish has been steaming for 10 minutes, put the asparagus basket under the fish and steam for 5 minutes more.
When the fish has one minute of cooking time left, heat the ’nduja paste in a small pan until it’s melted and bubbling, then pour straight over the freshly steamed fish. Sprinkle the asparagus with salt and pepper and serve with the fish (or, if you like, you can toss the asparagus in the ’nduja pan or fish tray so you don’t waste any of that punchy ’nduja oil).

Recipe from May 2025 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 390kcals
Fat: 17g (5g saturated)
Protein: 57g
Carbohydrates: 1.9g (1.8g sugars)
Fibre: 1.8g
Salt: 1.6g

delicious. tips

If the whole fish are too large for your basket, you can chop off the heads and tails to make them fit (freeze for stock or soup).
This dish is inspired by the fantastically simple yet delicious Chinese steamed fish dishes, where the fish is steamed, then finished with a sizzling hot oil, often with chilli and ginger. If you’d prefer to use fillets instead of whole fish, steam them for just 5 minutes. ’Nduja is a spreadable spicy Calabrian salami that’s so rich it can be melted into a quick hot sauce.