I see the Wild Sea bass tail staring back at me in the freezer and decided to do a simple Cantonese steam fish for dinner tonight.

Simple yet flavourful, bringing out the natural sweetness of the fish. I love cilantro hence you will see that my fish is literally buried under the cilantro…😊

INGREDIENTS

• 1 live fish, about 1.5 lb or less
• 2 inches ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
• 1 stalk scallion, cut into 2-inch length, and then cut into thin silken threads
• Some cilantro leaves
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine or rice wine

Soy Sauce Mixture:

• 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine, or rice wine
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 dashes white pepper powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Clean the fish properly (remove scales, guts, gills, etc.) and pat dry. Make a few slits on the fish where the flesh is thick. Blend the soy sauce mixture in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Place the white part of the green onion sections on a steaming dish, place fish on top of this green onion. This will help to cook both sides of the fish evenly and prevent the skin from sticking to the plate. Drizzle 1 tablespoon shaoxing (or rice) wine on top of the fish. Top the fish with 1/2 of the cut ginger strips.

3. Heat up a wok with enough water for steaming. Wait for the water to boil. As soon as it boils, place your fish inside the wok, propped up with a small inverted bowl or a couple of wooden blocks (meant for steaming). Cover your wok tightly and steam for 10 minutes.

4. As soon as the fish is done steaming, transfer it out from the wok. Discard the fish water and ginger strips. Lay the remaining ginger strips on top of the fish.

5. Heat up a pan over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, swirl around until it’s hot. Pour the hot oil over the steamed fish. Put the pan back onto the stove, add the soy sauce mixture and stir well. As soon as the sauce bubbles up and boils, pour the soy sauce over the fish. Topped with scallions and cilantro leaves and serve the steamed fish immediately with white rice.