Steamed Black Bean Garlic White Perch (蒜蓉豆豉蒸鱸魚, Syun3 Jung4 Dau6 Si6 Zing1 Lou4 Jyu6)

White perch was available at my local Asian market already cleaned and packaged, meaning that the fish was “freshly dead” (for those fans of Young Frankenstein). A variation on the basic Steamed Fish (蒸魚, Zing¹ Jyu⁶) recipe is to cook the fish with salted black beans and minced garlic as a topping. I chose to use the individual components as a topping, but an already prepared bottled sauce, such as the Lee Kum Kee brand Black Bean Garlic Sauce, can be used instead. The fish is always finished with heated oil and a soy sauce mixture. You can use a small pot or a wok to heat the mixtures, but I’ve been using the microwave to heat the soy sauce mixture. As always, you need to be very careful when you pour heated oil and liquids on the fish, as the hot oil and liquid will pop and splatter off the fish. Finally the cooked fish is topped with green onions and cilantro (optional).

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1	1	Whole or white perch fish tail (鱸魚, lou4 jyu6)
1 in.	2.5 cm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), julienned and spread on the fish
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Salted black beans (豆豉, dau6 si6)
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), finely minced
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Salt (鹽, jim4)
2 stalks	2 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces
		Cilantro (芫茜, jyun4 sai1) - optional
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Canola oil (芥花油, gaai3 faa1 jau4) or another neutral tasting oil
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry for the sauce
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sugar (白糖, baak6 tong4) or ground rock sugar (冰糖, bing1 tong4)
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	White pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
		Water for steaming

 

Equipment

12 in.	30 cm.	Steamer (or larger)
9 in.	23 cm.	Plate or bowl for steaming
		Plate lifter

 

Instructions

1. Fill the steamer with water and place over high heat to boil the water.
2. Wash and cut the green onions into ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces.
3. Wash and crush the salted black beans in a small bowl. The traditional way to crush the salted black beans is to use the base of the handle of a Chinese cleaver, but you can use any method that’s available to you. Finely mince the ginger and garlic, and add it to the bowl. A prepared bottled sauce can be substituted, such as the Lee Kum Kee brand Black Bean Garlic Sauce.
4. While the fish or fish tail should already be cleaned of scales, I always find remaining scales that need to be removed. So remove any remaining scales from the fish, rub the salt on the fish and in its cavity (optional), and put the fish into the steaming plate.
5. Finely julienne the ginger and place on top of the fish and in its body cavity. Top the fish with the black bean and garlic mixture. Pour the Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry onto the fish.
6. Put the canola and sesame oil into a small dry bowl, mix together, and set aside. A dry bowl is important since any water will explode when the oil is heated in a wok or pan.
7. Mix together the soy sauce mixture in a small microwave safe bowl: add the soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, sugar or ground rock sugar, and white pepper.
8. Once the steamer is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low to medium, and put the plate with the fish into the steamer for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the cooked fish from the steamer using the plate lifter.
9. Microwave the soy sauce mixture on high heat until it just boils (to remove the alcohol; about 1-2 minutes, depending upon the strength of your microwave). You want to time this to be ready just after the hot oil is poured on the fish (see next step). You can also use another small pan to heat the mixture instead of the microwave. Alcohol has a lower boiling point (173⁰F - 78⁰C) than water (212⁰F - 100⁰C), so the mixture doesn’t have to boil. Be careful since the bowl will be hot when removing the mixture from the microwave.
10. Pour the oil from the bowl into a wok or small pan and heat until the oil is very hot. Pour the hot oil onto the fish carefully, since the oil will splatter as it hits the fish. Pour the soy sauce mixture onto the fish, top with the green onions and cilantro (optional), and serve with steamed rice.