Chinese new year food

How to Prepare / Make / Cook - ?Chinese new year food

The Chinese are experts with seafood, and steaming is a favorite way to cook fish. It is fast and retains the natural flavor of fresh fish. The natural juices are nutritious and very good over rice. My mother always steamed whole fish, but I often use fresh fillets for convenience.

1 pound whitefish fillets, such as haddock, flounder, or bass, skin removed
½ scant teaspoon salt, or less to taste
3 medium dried black mushrooms, softened in hot water for 15 minutes
1 teaspoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/3 cup shredded bamboo shoots
2 ounces Smithfield ham, shredded
1 scallion, white and green parts cut into 2 inch pieces, and finely shredded
1 teaspoon finely shredded peeled gingerroot.

1. Place the fish fillets on a heatproof platter with a rim or pie plate that will fit into your steamer. Sprinkle both sides with salt. Let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Drain the mushrooms, rinse and squeeze dry. Cut off and discard the stems and shred the caps. Set aside.

3. Sprinkle the sherry and soy sauce on the fish, then spread the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, ham, scallion, and gingerroot evenly over the fish.

4. Bring the water in the steamer to a fast boil. Place the plate with the fish in the steamer. Cover and steam over medium-high heat for 6 to 8 minutes for flounder and 10 to 12 minutes for thicker fish, or until the flesh is white all the way through. Do not overcook. Check the fish at the thickest part after the shorter cooking time. If the flesh is not white, then cook another 2 minutes. If the uncooked area is very small, turn off the heat and keep the steamer covered. The remaining steam in the steamer will finish cooking the fish by serving time.

5. As soon as the fish is ready, it should be served without delay. Serve directly from the steaming dish, or transfer to a serving platter with the juices.

Variation In the traditional Chinese manner a whole fish may be cooked the same way; a 1 ½ to 2 pound sea bass, flounder, red snapper, rock cod, or perch are good choices. Scale and clean the fish thoroughly. Rinse and score both sides of the fish, if thick on the diagonal, with long parallel cuts almost to the bone. This allows flavors to penetrate fish and cook more evenly. If the fish is too long for your steamer, you may have to cut it in half. Then follow the procedure above. Cook a whole fish for about 10 to 15 minutes.