February 25, 2023
It has been a while since I last posted. With Z growing up so fast before my very eyes, I haven’t had much time to post a new recipe. In between work and home duties, I’ve been testing out recipes whenever I have time. Last month, we celebrated Z’s first Lunar New Year in Massachusetts as a family. We took her for a stroll through Chinatown in Boston, watched some lion dances from afar, and ate some “lucky” foods. Foods are considered lucky if the name of the food sounds like a lucky word in Chinese. Fish for example sounds like prosperous in Chinese. Thus, we often eat fish during the spring festival. Lunar New Year was one of my favorite holidays growing up. I love everything about the holiday – from the red and gold décor all the way to the endless treats. For years, I’ve been celebrating by making my mom’s tang yuan two ways, a sweet version and a savory version. Each version has its distinct flavors. Every time I take a bite out of a tang yuan, I am transported back to my childhood enjoying these soup circles with my mom. Another family dish I’ve been longing to recreate is my family’s version of ginger scallion steamed fish. This year, Z had her first experience trying our family’s ginger scallion steamed whole fish, a dish my dad and mom have been making for decades. My parents would tag team the preparation of the fish at home and my brothers and I benefited from having a fresh steamed fish every weekend. I didn’t realize how much I missed these home cooked meals until my parents moved in with us temporarily when Z was born. Suddenly, all the foods I loved growing up started showing up in our weekly dinner rotation. Out of all the dishes my dad makes, my favorite will always be his ginger scallion steamed fish. Even Kev, who tends to avoid seafood because of the fishy flavor (as Kev describes it), looks forward to my dad’s ginger scallion steamed fish every week. The magic in the dish lies in the simple sauce my dad prepares to go with the fish. The ingredients are simple. Dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, ginger, scallions, oyster sauce, and peanut oil. The ingredients never change. The ratios do change depending on whether my dad or mom cooks the fish. The way my parents cook fish (and pretty much any other dish) makes it very difficult to capture the exact ratio of ingredients. It is always a sprinkle of this, a dash of that, a drizzle of this, a toss of that. My parents are just used to eyeballing everything they cook. The same goes for the way they cook the ginger scallion steamed fish. When we go to the local Asian market, I watch intently as my dad buys fish. He would browse through the fish tanks before pointing to the exact fish he wants from the tank. It’s usually a fish or two just over a pound in weight. The fishmonger would use a large net to scoop a fresh tilapia out of the tank and show the fish to him. A slight nod of the head indicates the fish has met his needs. I would watch as the fishmonger scrape all the scales off the tilapia. The cleaned fish is rinsed off with a hose and swiftly packed into a plastic bag. The packaged fish is then dropped on a scale, weighed, and priced with a sticker to indicate the final selling price. My dad would always instruct me that fresh is best when it comes to buying fish. Always go for a live fish scooped from a tank. The moment we bring the fish home, my mom gets to work to rinse the fish inside and out. She would make sure the fish is cleared of debris and remaining scales and then pats it dry with a couple sheets of paper towels. The cleaned and prepped fish is then tucked into the refrigerator to be cooked and enjoyed the same night. Weekly ginger scallion steamed fish in our house is as popular as pizza. We never go too long without eating one. It took my parents moving in to stay with us throughout this year for me to rediscover the food memories of this long-lost part of my childhood. For Lunar New Year this year, I decided to team up with my mom to make and photograph our family favorite ginger scallion steamed fish. Watching my dad and mom’s precision with handling the fish for weeks helped me internalize these steps. I look forward to passing this recipe and other family food traditions down to Z.
For the ginger scallion steamed fish:
For steaming the fish:
· 1 whole tilapia, about 1- 1½ pounds in weight, scales removed, rinsed and patted dry
· 1 inch knob of ginger, chopped and julienned, divided
· 2 stalks of scallions, sliced diagonally and julienned, divided
· 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
· 1 tablespoon peanut oil
For serving the fish:
· ginger, julienned (reserved from above)
· scallions, julienned (reserved from above)
· 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
· 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
· 1 tablespoon peanut oil
· 1 bunch of cilantro, half trimmed and half finely chopped
Directions:
1) Place a metal steaming rack into a wok. Fill the wok with enough water until it almost reaches the rack. Cover the wok and heat on high heat.
2) In a heat-safe shallow metal pan, place the whole rinsed and patted dry tilapia in the center. Stuff the tilapia with part of the divided julienned ginger and scallions. Top the tilapia with the chopped ginger and sliced scallions. Drizzle the dark soy sauce and peanut oil over the top of the tilapia.
3) Once the water in the wok begins to boil, carefully transfer the heat-safe shallow metal pan with the tilapia into the wok and place gently on top of the metal steaming rack.
4) Cover the wok and steam the fish for 15-20 minutes depending on the weight of the fish. A pound of fresh fish takes about 15 minutes to steam. A 1½ pound of fresh fish takes about 20 minutes to steam. Use a chopstick to test the doneness of the fish by inserting it into the thickest part of the fish. If the chopstick pierces cleanly through the thickest part of the fish (usually the center), then the fish is done.
5) To serve, place a few sprigs of cilantro on a serving plate. Transfer the fish to the serving plate. Garnish with the reserved julienned ginger and scallions. In a small microwave-safe sauce bowl, whisk together the light soy sauce, oyster sauce, and peanut oil. Pop the bowl into the microwave and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Pour the sauce all over the cooked tilapia. Top with the chopped cilantro and serve with a steaming bowl of jasmine rice.
For a quick side dish, sauté halved baby bok choy in peanut oil, a pinch of salt, and thinly sliced garlic. Top with toasted sesame seeds and a dash of oyster sauce (if desired) right before serving.
Z snuck her little hand into the photo above.
Takeaways: My parents insist that rinsing and patting the fish dry is the key to preventing the fish from carrying its fishy flavor into the final dish. I’ve watched my dad and mom both make the ginger scallion steamed fish multiple times and every time, they rinse and blot the fish dry with paper towels. When it comes to cooking the fish, my dad and mom swears by the chopstick trick. They use it every time to check the doneness of the fish. An uncooked fish will typically give resistance to the chopstick. If the chopstick pierces cleanly through the fish at the thickest part without resistance, then the fish is done. This method has worked for decades for them as they have steamed thousands of fish.
