Fish have long symbolized good fortune in Chinese culture. In Chinese, the character for fish is pronounced the same as the character for abundance. And in the Eight Diagrams, flowing water is considered to be a so-called active object and as such is believed to have the capacity to bring wealth to people. So back in ancient times, people liked to have a pond full of fish in their gardens.
For this recipe, I personally like cod because it’s moist, buttery, and luscious. Of course, you can replace it with any other type of fish like red snapper, sea bass, or even salmon.
Chinese Steamed Fish
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Makes: 1 serving
1 8 ounce fish fillet
1 thumb ginger, julienned
3 stalks scallions, julienned
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Directions
To make the soy sauce mixture, add soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon ginger, and 1 tablespoon scallions to a bowl.
Then boil water in a pot and put a steamer in it. Put the fish fillet in the middle of a plate, top the fish with 1/2 tablespoon ginger, and 1 tablespoon scallions. Place the plate in the pot. Steam for 8 minutes.
Carefully remove the plate from the pot. Discard the liquid, ginger, and scallions. Then add the remaining ginger and scallions on top of the fish. Add the soy sauce mixture all around the fish.
In a small pan, heat up the vegetable oil until hot. Carefully pour over the fish.
