Directions

Select the fish

1. Freshness is the most important thing for this dish. It will be best to get your fish straight out of a fisherman's net or alive from the tank in a seafood market. If live fish is unavailable around where you live, ask your supermarket to figure out their weekly seafood replenishment schedule and plan your grocery shopping that day.

   
2. A fresh fish should have a clean smell; clear, shiny eyes; bright red gills; moist, glossy scales; and firm, bouncy flesh. If the fish has an unpleasant odor, the eyes and scales are dry, the gills are pink or gray, and the flesh is soft, don't buy it.
   
3. It is crucial to pick a smaller fish, around 1.2-1.8 pounds. If the fish is too big, it will take much longer to steam, and the outside of the meat will end up being overcooked before the inside gets done.
   
4. There are no particular rules on the types of fish. Any white fish will work. Here are some of the common types that we use in China: sea bass, sea bream, perch, flounder, grouper, snapper, grass carp, and mandarin fish.
   

Prepping the fish before steaming

1. In Cantonese culture, steamed fish must be whole with the head and tail on for good luck. However, there is nothing wrong with using fish fillets only. Ask your fishmonger to descale the fish and remove the gills and guts. Otherwise, follow the steps below to prep the fish.

   
2. Take a pair of scissors to remove the fins and trim the tail. Please do this step before scaling because fins can be sharp, and you can get hurt by accident in the following steps.
   
3. Open the gill cover and use scissors to cut off the gills and discard them.
   
4. Use the back of a utility knife to descale the fish by holding it at a 45-degree angle and scrubbing it from the fishtail towards the head with steady pressure. This process is messy. I recommend filling a sink or a bucket with water and working everything under the water. This way, the scales will pop out and flow with the water instead of flying everywhere.
   
5. Use a pair of scissors to cut the fish belly open and discard all the innards.
   
6. Inside the fish cavity, there is a blood vine running along the spine: use kitchen paper to scrub it; otherwise, your dish will end up with a fishy smell.
   
7. Rinse the fish with cold water several times or until the water runs out clear.
   
8. Use a sharp knife to score the fish flesh along the backbone on each side. The belly part is thinner. The back part is much thicker. By scoring it, the fish can be cooked evenly.
   
9. Smack 5 cloves garlic, 2 inches ginger, and 3 scallions using a heavy-duty cleaver then roughly dice them.
   
10. Add the diced ginger, garlic, scallions, Chinese cooking wine, and the fish to a big mixing bowl and rub the aromatics onto the fish surface for a few minutes. Let the fish rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
    

Make the steamed fish seasoning sauce

1. Cut the dried shiitake mushroom into smaller pieces using kitchen sears, and then soak the mushroom in 3 Tbsps hot water for 15 minutes.
   
2. Add the vegetable oil, Sichuan peppercorns, 1 tsp diced ginger, 1 tsp diced garlic, and 2 tsp diced scallion, into a saucepan and stir over medium-low heat for 3 minutes.
   
3. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and the soaked mushroom, along with its soaking water, and stir well.
   
4. Put on the lid and simmer everything on the lowest heat for 3 minutes to mingle all the flavors.
   
5. Let the sauce go through a sieve to eliminate all the solid ingredients. Set the sauce aside.
   
6. Steam the fish and serve
7. Cut 3 inches of ginger into thick strips. Cut 4 scallions into 3-inch-long stalks. Separate the green and white parts. Cut the red chili pepper open and remove the seeds.
   
8. Stack the green part of the scallion, ginger slices, and red chili pepper together and then thinly julienne them. Soak them in clean water for 10 minutes so they will curve naturally and make a better presentation. Remove them from the water and use paper towels to absorb the excess moisture.
   
9. Place the ginger strips and white parts of the scallion stalks on an oblong plate.
   
10. Remove the aromatics from the fish and use paper towels to pat it dry. Next, lay the fish on the plate on top of the ginger and scallion stalks. These aromatics lift up the fish while steaming, allowing better air circulation so that the fish will cook evenly.
    
11. Please use the widest steamer you have so it fits the fish. Fill the steamer with lots of water. Turn the heat to the highest setting and bring the water to a full boil.
    
12. Place the fish and the plate in the steamer and steam over high heat until cooked through; the steaming time depends on the size of the fish. For your reference, a 1.2-pound fish takes 6-8 minutes; 1.4-pound takes 7-9 minutes; 1.6-pound takes 8-10 minutes; and 1.8-pound takes 10-12 minutes (the fish weights should be measured before gutting).
    
13. Once it is done, turn off the heat and leave the fish in the steamer for 3-5 minutes. The rest of the heat will continue to cook the fish. If you skip this step, your fish may be undercooked.
    
14. Use a chopstick to poke the thickest part of the fish; if it goes through easily without resistance, it is cooked. You should be skillful enough to understand how long it takes to cook your fish and steam it once for good. You could check it in the middle and put it back to cook again, but the texture might be ruined.
    
15. Transfer the fish to a clean serving plate; then place the soaked julienned scallion, ginger, red chili, and minced garlic on top of the fish.
    
16. Heat 3 Tbsps vegetable oil until it is smoking. Pour it over the aromatics.
    
17. Drizzle the seasoning sauce all over the fish and serve.