Steamed Whole Fish, Chinese-Style

Chinese restaurant aficianados often judge the quality of a restaurant by its steamed whole fish. Such a simple cooking method makes it practically impossible to hide a second-rate fish (and chef!) underneath heavy seasonings or a thick sauce. Test your own steaming prowess with this simply sublime Cantonese classic.

To make it really Cantonese, use carp instead of sea bass. Although carp isn't a very popular fish in the West, it's a Chinese favorite, and if you live near a Chinese market, you can probably find it still alive and swimming in the store's fish tanks.


Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 12 to 14 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

1 sea bass, cleaned with head left on
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup finely shredded ginger
2 green onions, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces and thinly julienned
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup soy sauce

1. Pat the fish dry and score it on both sides. Lay it on a heatproof serving dish with slightly raised sides. (If your wok or steamer is rather small, the fish can be halved.) Sprinkle with the salt; spread the ginger on the fish and some in the cavities.

2. Prepare a wok for steaming. Cover and steam the fish over high heat, until the fish is cooked and the flesh flakes off, about 13 minutes. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the green onions.

3. Heat the cooking oil in a small saucepan over high heat until it begins to smoke. Pour the hot oil over the fish and the green onions. Pour the soy sauce over the fish.

Variation: Setting the fish on two whole green onion stalks as it steams not only adds to the meal's flavor but also gives the steaming process a helpful nudge by letting the steam circulate more fully around the fish. Try it yourself. Also, those score marks you've made are the perfect "pockets" for holding any additional seasonings — slices of ginger, green onion, or even slices of black mushrooms — that you may want to use to give an extra jolt of flavor.