清蒸鱼
Disclaimer: what you see in the picture is really not what this dish is supposed to look like (or what I'm recommending below). By all means, this dish should be made with a whole fish if possible, but due to my limited means of transportation, I made it with (frozen) filets. Regardless, this is a really simple but absolutely delicious dish. The soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and green onions provides an excellent flavor base while highlighting the delicate nature of the fish. Someday I'd definitely love to try to make this with an actual whole fish.
Active Time: 15 min
Total Time: 25 min
Ingredients
> fish (would recommend whole if possible, but filets work as well).
> ginger, garlic, green onions
> soy sauce, oil, sesame oil
Instructions
1. If steaming the fish whole, make a few cuts in the meat on both sides, all the way to the spine. Add a bit of ginger between the cuts, and sprinkle some salt over the fish.
2. Place the fish in a steamer, and cook until the fish is still tender but cooked all the way through.
3. In the meantime, prepare your sauce by combining soy sauce, water, sesame oil, (optional) sugar, green onion, garlic, and ginger. Heat up in a sauce pot.
4. Remove the fish from a steamer, remove any excess water, and place on a large, long plate. Liberally pour the sauce over the fish.
5. Arrange thinly sliced green onion, and ginger over the top of the fish. In the meantime, heat up some oil until very hot. Liberally pour the oil over the fish, green onions, and ginger.
6. Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> For this technique, you can use a variety of different fish, but I would recommend trying black bass. It's really tender, not particularly fishy, and pairs beautifully with the oil, soy sauce, and ginger/scallions/garlic mixture. Rockfish also works decently well and is a slightly more "meaty" fish.
> You may want to flip the fish half-way through the cooking process, to ensure that the steaming cooks the fish evenly.
> The sauce is simple and provides a base for the flavor, while also not overpowering the delicate nature of the fish. There are a lot of ways you could compose the sauce depending on your personal preference - you could use fish sauce, vinegar, a variety of other ingredients.
> Be very liberal with the amount of oil you use when ladling over at the end. There really are no other sources of fat in this dish, so it's crucial for the savoriness of the dish. I'd recommend around a quarter cup or so of oil.
> Make sure when you eat it, that you enjoy each bite of fish with some sauce. The fish by itself might be a bit bland.