Steamed Fish

Overview

Steamed Fish is a cooking recipe in Starsand Island that combines Fish Fillet and Leek into a simple but highly practical dish. It restores 77 stamina when eaten and grants the Never Skunked buff, which makes fish bite immediately for 30 seconds. This makes Steamed Fish one of the most valuable recipes for players who spend a lot of time fishing, since the buff eliminates the waiting period between casting your line and getting a bite.

The recipe is unlocked by completing the Junior Angler Trial, part of the Angler profession quest line. It is not available for purchase at the Aureleaf Kitchen, so players must progress through the Angler trials to gain access. With a sell price of 138 Coins, Steamed Fish is not the most profitable cooked dish on the island, but its fishing buff makes it worth keeping in your inventory whenever you head out to the water.

Recipe Details

Steamed Fish can be prepared at either a Campfire or a Gas Stove. Both stations produce the same result. The Gas Stove is generally preferred for batch cooking because it supports recipe queuing while you tend to other tasks on the farm.

Never Skunked Buff

The main reason to cook Steamed Fish is the Never Skunked buff. Normally, when you cast your fishing line, there is a delay while the fish tests the bait before committing to a bite. With Never Skunked active, this testing phase is skipped entirely. Fish bite the moment your bobber hits the water, which dramatically speeds up your fishing runs.

The buff lasts 30 seconds after eating one serving. It does not stack, so eating a second Steamed Fish while the buff is still active will simply refresh the timer rather than extending or doubling the effect. For the best results, eat a serving right before you start a focused fishing session at a pond, river, or deep-sea fishing zone. Because each cast resolves faster with the buff active, you can catch significantly more fish in the same time window compared to fishing without it.

This buff is especially useful during timed fishing tasks, profession trial objectives that require catching a certain number of fish, and fishing sessions where you are trying to fill your Aquarium with new species. Stock up on Steamed Fish before heading to any serious fishing trip.

Where to Get the Recipe

The Steamed Fish recipe is awarded upon completing the Junior Angler Trial. This is the second tier of the Angler profession quest line, following the Apprentice Angler certification. To begin the Junior Angler Trial, you must first complete the Marston port quest to unlock boat access.

Junior Angler Trial Steps

1. Speak to Delphin to accept the Junior Angler Trial after completing the Apprentice Angler tier.

2. Obtain a boat. You can build one, rent one from Starsand Port, or borrow the community boat at Half-Moon Bay.

3. Sail to a deep-sea fishing zone and catch 10 ocean fish. Species like Sea Bass, Squid, and Pufferfish count toward this goal.

4. Deliver the 10 ocean fish to Zerine at the General Store.

5. Return to Delphin to complete the certification and receive the Steamed Fish recipe along with other Junior Angler rewards.

Unlike many recipes that can be purchased from the Aureleaf Kitchen, Steamed Fish is exclusively tied to the Angler profession. There is no way to buy this recipe from a shop.

Ingredient Sourcing

Steamed Fish uses two ingredients: Fish Fillet and Leek. Both are straightforward to obtain once you have the right tools and crops set up.

Fish Fillet

Fish Fillet is a processed cooking ingredient created by placing any caught fish into a Separator. Every fish species produces Fish Fillet regardless of rarity or type, so you can use cheap, easy-to-catch fish like Clownfish or Greasyback Shrimp for this purpose. There is no need to waste rare catches on Fillet production.

If you do not have a Separator yet, you can craft one at a Worktable using 3 Stone, 3 Softwood, and 5 Fiber. The Separator blueprint is available from Zerine's General Store after you begin the Apprentice Crafter quest line. Once built, the Separator also produces other base cooking ingredients like Flour, Sugar, Cooking Oil, and Meat Bites from their respective raw materials.

Since each batch of Steamed Fish requires 4 Fish Fillet, plan to process fish in bulk. Keep a stash of common fish in a chest near your Separator so you can top up your Fillet supply whenever needed.

Leek

Leek is a fast-growing vegetable crop available from the Happiness Seed Shop for 60 Coins per seed packet. It grows during Spring and Autumn, matures in just 1 day, and yields 4 Leek per harvest. This extremely short growth cycle means you can harvest Leek daily as long as you keep replanting.

Leek seeds become available once you begin your farming training with Graminova at the Apprentice Farmer level. Plant Leek in standard Farmland or a Planting Box. Water daily or set up sprinklers to automate the process. Because Leek matures in a single day, it is one of the lowest-maintenance ingredients in the game.

Each batch of Steamed Fish uses 2 Leek. With 4 Leek per harvest from one plant, a single Leek plant provides enough for two servings of Steamed Fish every day. Even a small patch of three or four Leek plants will generate more than enough supply to keep up with regular cooking.

Profitability

Steamed Fish sells for 138 Coins at any shop. While this is not the highest-value cooked dish in the game, the ingredients are inexpensive: Leek seeds cost 60 Coins and Fish Fillet comes from common fish that are easy to catch. The real value of Steamed Fish lies in its Never Skunked buff rather than its sell price.

If you are cooking purely for profit, there are better options like Yangzhou Fried Rice or Braised Pork Belly that sell for significantly more. However, Steamed Fish shines as a utility food. Eating it before a fishing session lets you catch more fish per minute, which indirectly generates more income through selling rare catches or processing fish into higher-value recipes.

Selling Steamed Fish on the Merchant Ship doubles the price to 276 Coins per serving. If you have surplus Steamed Fish that you will not eat, stockpile them for the ship's Monday visit.

Related Recipes

Steamed Fish is one of three recipes in the game that use Fish Fillet as a primary ingredient. If you have a surplus of Fish Fillet, consider cooking these dishes as well.

All three Fish Fillet recipes use the same cooking stations. The key difference is that Steamed Fish is the only one with a fishing buff, making it the go-to choice for active anglers. Sashimi and Shrimp and Fish Porridge are better suited for stamina recovery or selling.

Tips

• Eat Steamed Fish right before you cast your line, not while walking to the fishing spot. The 30-second buff window is short, so you want to maximize the number of casts during that time.

• Carry multiple servings when heading to a deep-sea fishing zone. Ocean fish are harder to find and the instant-bite effect saves valuable time when you are out on your boat.

• Pair Steamed Fish with a high-quality fishing rod to further increase your fishing efficiency. Better rods attract rarer fish, and with Never Skunked active, you can cycle through catches faster to find the ones you need.

• Keep a dedicated chest near your Campfire or Gas Stove stocked with Fish Fillet and Leek. This way you can quickly cook a fresh batch of Steamed Fish whenever you plan a fishing trip.

• Use cheap, common fish like Clownfish or Greasyback Shrimp for your Fish Fillet supply. Save rare and valuable catches for selling, gifting to NPCs, or displaying in your Aquarium.

• Since the Never Skunked buff does not stack, avoid eating another serving while the effect is still active. Wait for the buff icon to disappear before consuming the next one.

• Leek grows in just 1 day and yields 4 per harvest. Plant a small row of Leek and you will never run short of this ingredient.

• During Winter and Summer when Leek cannot grow, stock up on Leek during Spring and Autumn. Store extra Leek in a chest so you can continue cooking Steamed Fish year-round.

See Also

• Cooking Recipes

• Cooking

• Fishing

• Separator

• Leek

• Angler Trial Walkthroughs

• Deep-Sea Fishing Zones

• All Fish

• Gas Stove

• Campfire

• Merchant Ship