Fish · All year
Black Bean Steamed Fish
豉汁蒸鱼. Fermented black beans, garlic, and ginger, steamed over fillets. A weeknight fish that still tastes like a Chinese kitchen.
25 minutes · Serves 4 · 4 plates
“Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number — living things both large and small.”
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb white fish fillets, such as cod, sea bass, or tilapia
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 2 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 scallions, sliced
Method
- 1
Pat the fillets dry, salt them, and lay them in one layer on a heatproof plate.
- 2
Chop the rinsed black beans. Warm the avocado oil in a small pan, add the beans, garlic, and ginger, and stir for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Stir in the soy sauce, sugar, and water. Spoon this over the fish.
- 3
Steam over boiling water, plate above the water, for 7 to 10 minutes. The fish is done when it flakes and the thickest part reads 145°F. Thin tilapia is often done at 7. A thick piece of cod wants the longer time.
- 4
Scatter the scallions over the hot fish. Do not steam them the whole time or they lose their color. Serve with rice. The sauce on the plate is the sauce. There is not a second one.
From the kitchen
- Fermented black beans are salty already. Rinse them, and do not add more salt than the half teaspoon on the fish until you have tasted the sauce.
- A spoon of Shaoxing wine in place of part of the water is traditional. Water is enough if you do not keep the wine.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
