Chinese fish recipe

How to Prepare / Make / Cook - ? Chinese fish recipe

Chinese fish recipe :

Steamed Whole Fish, Cantonese Style

A whole fish, with head, tail, and fins intact, is a symbol of prosperity and good luck. The Chinese word for fish is a homonym for the word abundance, and whole fish is always served on special occasion like the lunar New Year, birthdays, and weddings. The eyes and cheeks are particularly prized, and these are saved for the guest of honor or the eldest at the table.

Since the fish is cooked with the skin on, I always scale the fish again even if it has been scaled at the market to make certain the skin is smooth and scale less.

If you can’t get flounder, substitute sea bass, striped bass, rock cod, trout, or red snapper.

1 to 11/2 pounds whole flounder, cleaned and scaled
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry sherry
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 scallions, shredded
2 tablespoons finely shredded peeled gingerroot (page 45)
Dash white pepper
1 ½ tablespoons canola, corn, or peanut oil
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro

1. Rinse the fish, inside and out, and pat dry. It is not necessary to score flatfish like flounder, but if the fish you are using is thick, score both sides with long, parallel cuts almost to the bone. Scoring allows the flavors to penetrate and the fish to cook evenly. Place the fish dark skin up on a heatproof plate or platter and sprinkle with salt, sherry, and soy sauce. Scatter the scallions and gingerroot on top.

2. Bring water in a steamer to a full boil and place the plate with the fish in the steamer. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the flesh at the thickest part is white. Be careful not to overcook. Remove the fish from the steamer, being careful not to spill the juices from the platter. Sprinkle pepper over the fish.

3. Heat the cooking oil and sesame seed oil in a small saucepan until just smoking. Pour the hot oil over the fish and garnish with cilantro. Serve immediately.

Note Restaurants use huge steamers that hold a number of dishes all at once, including a whole fish on an oval platter. I use a 12inch steamer and put the flounder on a 9-inch glass pie plate. The head and tail extend a bit over the edges, but most of the fish is in the dish. After steaming, I carefully slip the fish with all of its juices onto a 14-inch porcelain oval platter for presentation. This works with flounder because it is more round than long. If your fish is too long for your steamer, cut it in half and reassemble it on an oval platter before finishing it with the hot oil.