This is the dish that Cantonese cooking is quietly famous for – a whole fish, steamed for barely ten minutes, dressed with nothing more than ginger, spring onion, hot oil and a splash of seasoned soy. No masking, no heavy sauce. If the fish is good, this is the best possible thing you can do with it.
The technique matters more than the shopping list. Steam it just until the flesh turns opaque at the bone, pour off the cloudy liquid that collects on the plate, then hit the aromatics with smoking hot oil so they sizzle and release. That last step is what makes the kitchen smell like a Chinatown restaurant.
Serve it whole in the middle of the table with steamed rice and a plate of greens. It looks like a celebration and takes about twenty minutes.
