Chinese Style Steamed Fish - New England



Chinese Style Steamed Fish

By Charlie Burke



Although I haven’t featured oriental cooking in this column, we frequently turn to stir fries and steamed fish when we want a light meal that is still full of flavor. I have fresh ginger, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil (thick and dark and intended for seasoning, not the light type used for frying), Vietnamese fish sauce and varied Chinese hot pepper and black bean pastes as staples in the refrigerator. I use Chinese five spice flavoring in many recipes, and a favorite is roast chicken seasoned with five spice from a recipe by Jasper White, an icon in Boston cooking.

This is healthy cooking, low in fat and which includes large amounts of lightly cooked fresh vegetables. This recipe was done with tilapia, which is farm raised in an ecologically friendly form of aquaculture. It is recommended by groups monitoring depleted species () and can take some of the pressure off cod and other over-fished species. Affordable and versatile, it is firm and mild in flavor, somewhat like expensive Dover sole.

We have an inexpensive bamboo steamer which has three levels, permitting the fish and vegetables to be steamed together, but conventional metal steamers work well, also. I usually drizzle the fish with soy sauce mixed with grated ginger and some cayenne powder or Chinese red pepper paste before steaming and drip small amounts of sesame oil over the cooked fish. Thinly julienned scallions and sweet red peppers add color and flavor, and a sprinkle of dark sesame seeds adds crunch and contrast. Fish fillets are used here, but shrimp and scallops are perfectly suited for steaming and make an easy but elegant dish for entertaining.

Two servings:

2 six – eight ounce tilapia fillets

2 tablespoons soy sauce or reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon grated or finely minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon Chinese hot red pepper paste or black bean paste (optional)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon dark sesame oil

1 teaspoon black sesame seeds (optional)

2 scallions, trimmed, cut into 2 inch lengths and then thinly sliced lengthwise

½ sweet red pepper, julienned

4-6 fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced (optional)

Bring 4 inches of water to a boil in a wok or metal steamer. Mix soy sauce, ginger, red pepper paste and lemon juice in a small bowl. Place fillets on a plate sized to fit inside the steamer. Drizzle soy sauce mixture over the fillets and sprinkle with the julienned vegetables and sesame seeds.

Place fish into the steamer and cover. Cooking time will vary with different size fillets and the steamer being used. Check frequently after 4-5 minutes and remove from the steamer when the fish is not quite opaque in the center; residual heat in the plate will complete the cooking.

Place the fillets onto plates and pour fish juices and sauce from the steamer plate over them. Drizzle each with several drops of sesame oil and serve.

This dish was served with asparagus charred in a ridged grill pan and steamed snow peas, but broccoli, green beans and carrots are bright and flavorful when steamed until barely tender. Bok Choy or Chinese cabbage are traditional oriental vegetables, and, of course, steamed white rice is a usual side dish.

Low fat cooking does not have to be unexciting cooking. The ginger, soy and the heat from the pepper paste contrast with the mild fish to produce complex flavors in a very simple preparation. Black bean paste gives a different earthy taste to the sauce, and I sometimes add chopped garlic. In the past we had to travel to Chinese grocery stores to get authentic oriental ingredients, but now they are on the shelves of nearly all markets, so experiment and choose your own favorites to take advantage of this great flavor resource.

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