Steamed Fish with Black Beans
Submitted by sunnylee
Steamed whole fish with fermented black beans, ginger, garlic, and scallions finished with sizzling hot oil. A classic Cantonese technique that keeps fish silky and flavorful.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minThis is one of the great dishes of Cantonese cooking, and it’s simpler than it looks. A whole fish gets sprinkled with salt and fresh ginger juice, topped with roughly chopped fermented black beans and garlic, then steamed until the flesh is silky and just opaque. The finishing move is dramatic: near-smoking peanut oil and sesame oil poured directly over the fish, which sizzles and crisps the scallions and ginger shreds on contact.
Fermented black beans (douchi) are the backbone flavor here. They’re salty, funky, and deeply savory. Chopping them with garlic releases their oils, but don’t go too fine or the mixture turns into a bitter paste. You want identifiable bean pieces.
The ginger juice technique is worth noting. Fresh ginger squeezed hard in your fist (or through a garlic press) releases pure liquid that flavors the fish without leaving fibrous bits behind.
Chef Tips
- Use the freshest whole fish you can find. Steaming is a gentle technique that hides nothing. Stale fish will taste stale.
- Don’t over-chop the black beans and garlic. A rough chop keeps the flavor balanced. A paste turns bitter.
- A 1-inch thick fish takes exactly 10 minutes of steaming. Don’t lift the lid during cooking or you’ll lose steam and the timing won’t hold.
- The hot oil finish is not optional. That sizzling oil blooms the aromatics and creates a thin, fragrant sauce on the plate that ties everything together.
Variations
- Oven method: If you don’t have a steamer, place the plated fish on a trivet in a roasting pan with boiling water, seal with foil, and cook at 400°F (200°C) for 10 minutes.
- Fillet version: Use thick fish fillets (sea bass or cod) if whole fish isn’t available. Reduce steaming time to 6-8 minutes depending on thickness.
Ingredients
Directions
Place the fish on a platter large enough to hold it, and sprinkle it with salt.
Squeeze the chunk of ginger in your hand to extract the juice, letting it sprinkle over the fish.
(The ginger must be fresh and you must have strong hands to do this; as an alternative, use a garlic press.)
Chop the garlic and fermented black beans together.
Don’t chop too fine or the mixture will become a paste and turn bitter.
Scatter the beans, garlic, shredded scallions and shredded ginger over the fish.
Mix the soy sauce, rice wine and sugar.
Pour it over the fish. If the plate is too long to fit in a bamboo steamer or a wok, improvise a steamer.
For example, a roasting pan could serve the purpose, with a trivet standing in the middle to hold the plate.
Set the plate on the trivet.
Pour boiling water into the pan, but not enough to reach the plate.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and crimp the edges to seal it.
Put the pan over low heat to keep the water simmering.
A fish 1-inch thick at its widest point will take 10 minutes in the steamer.
(The covered pan can also be placed in a 400℉ (200℃) oven to cook for the same length of time.)
When the fish is done, remove the plate from the steamer.
A thin sauce will have formed on the plate.
Heat the peanut oil and sesame oil in a small saucepan almost to the smoking point, and pour the mixture over the fish.
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