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Recipe for Scallion Oil Steamed Mandarin Fish

Estimated Cooking Difficulty: ★★★★

Essential Ingredients and Tools

  • Mandarin fish
  • Green onions
  • Millet peppers
  • Ginger
  • Cooking wine
  • Vegetable oil
  • Salt
  • Steamed fish soy sauce
  • Steamer (including steaming pot)
  • Clean water
  • Cutting board
  • Wok
  • Plastic plate or basin (for marinating the fish)
  • Disposable gloves
  • Kitchen paper towels
  • Steaming plate (large enough to lay the fish flat)
  • Chef's knife
  • Peeler
  • Heat-resistant tongs (or heat-resistant gloves)

Calculations

This recipe is scaled for 2 servings. In actual practice, considering that the texture and umami of the fish may vary depending on the size of the individual fish, it is recommended to prepare the ingredients for 2 servings to achieve the best flavor.

  • Mandarin fish = 1 jin (500g)
  • Green onions = 1 stalk (30cm in length)
  • Millet peppers = 2 pieces
  • Ginger = 50g
  • Cooking wine = 25g
  • Vegetable oil = 15g
  • Salt = 8g
  • Steamed fish soy sauce = 10g
  • Clean water = 5L

Instructions

  • Purchase pre-cleaned fish from the wet market (if cleaning it yourself, it is best to leave the internal organs intact). Scrape off all scales from the surface of the fish.
  • Use kitchen paper towels to wipe out the adhering blood and black membrane inside the fish cavity (the adhering blood affects the texture, and the black membrane is the source of the fishy odor).
  • Scrape the surface of the fish back and forth with a cleaver several times to remove the slime, further reducing the fishy odor. Then rinse the fish thoroughly inside and out with clean water.
  • Place the fish flat on a cutting board. Use kitchen paper towels to dry the moisture inside and outside the fish. With the head facing left and the tail to the right, make longitudinal cuts every 3 cm starting from the gill area, cutting deep enough to reach the fish's spine. Repeat the same process on the other side.
  • Place the fish flat in a basin, ensuring there is no excess water in the basin.
  • Take a 50g piece of ginger (about the size of an egg), peel off the skin using a peeler, wash it clean, and then slice it into 3mm thick pieces.
  • Wash the millet peppers, remove the stems, and slice them into 2mm thick rounds (or cut them into 1mm wide strips).
  • Wash the scallions, remove the root hairs, and cut them into 3cm segments. For slightly thicker scallions, you can split them lengthwise along their natural growth direction.
  • Add 8g of salt and 25g of cooking wine to the basin. Put on disposable gloves and massage the entire fish for 1 minute, ensuring that every part of the fish is evenly coated with salt and cooking wine.
  • After massaging the fish, stuff a slice of ginger into each cut on the fish's body, and place 3 slices of ginger inside the fish cavity. Marinate for 10 minutes (it is recommended not to marinate for too long, as this may reduce the freshness of the fish).
  • While the fish is marinating, add 5L of clean water to the steamer, bring it to a boil, and then place the steaming rack on top of the steamer.
  • After marination, the fish will release moisture. Discard the excess moisture along with the cooking wine and ginger slices used for marinating. Rinse the fish body and cavity with clean water and pat dry with kitchen paper towels.
  • Place the fish flat in a steaming plate. Re-stuff slices of ginger into the cuts on the fish's body and inside the cavity.
  • Then place the steaming plate into the steamer, cover with the lid, and steam over medium heat for 20 minutes.
  • During the steaming process, steam will condense on the fish and the plate, forming fish broth. Do not discard this broth after removing it from the steamer; this liquid is the essence of the umami flavor.
  • Use heat-resistant tongs to remove the steaming plate. Pour 10g of steamed fish soy sauce over the fish and around it.
  • Then evenly sprinkle the scallion segments and millet peppers over the fish and the surrounding area.
  • Pour 15g of vegetable oil into a wok and heat it over low-medium heat for 5 minutes. Do not use high heat, otherwise the oil will evaporate too quickly.
  • Slowly and evenly pour the hot oil over the fish. The delicious scallion oil mandarin fish is now ready to serve!

Additional Notes

After numerous tests, the success rate is 100%. This dish is very forgiving and compatible with people from any province and any taste preference. Although this tutorial is titled "How to Make Scallion Oil Mandarin Fish," the ingredients are not limited to mandarin fish. You can substitute it with sea fish such as sea bass or turbot (freshwater fish tend to have more parasites than sea fish, so their use is not recommended; for freshwater fish preparations, please refer to tutorials like "Braised Fish"). This method has low coupling and high scalability.

If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for improving the process outlined in this guide, please submit an Issue or Pull Request.