ONE of the fish dishes that my Aunt Tita Blitte makes for the family is steamed fish.
Last week, I did mention steamed fish as one seafood dish you can make at home. Steamed fish always creates a special touch to the table. It adds a festive touch to a meal.
If at fish your steamed fish turns out rubbery, do not cry. You can still eat it and move on. Try a second time or third or fourth time until you get it. My aunt sometimes adds black mushrooms to her steamed fish. At other times, she tosses a tablespoon of salted black beans or a combination of black beans and button mushrooms.
One thing I like about my aunt when she reigns over the kitchen: She is not afraid to experiment. We, her subjects, are just too happy to try her new experiments. Here is her steamed fish recipe:
Ingredients: One kilo fish with white flesh; three-inch-long ginger, julienned; 1⁄4 cup soy sauce; two tablespoons water; one tablespoon oyster sauce; three pieces scallions (use only the white and light green parts, julienned; reserve the julienned green part for stuffing); salt and pepper to taste; cooking oil.
Procedure: Clean fish well and drain before rubbing with salt and pepper. Stuff fish with half the ginger and the dark green part of the scallions. Top the fish with the remaining ginger.
Place the fish on a heatproof dish in a steamer. Cover dish and steam fish until the fish flakes easily when pierced with a fork. When the fish is cooked, pour off the cooking liquid. Leave fish in the dish.
Place the julienned white and light green parts of the onions on top of the fish. Set aside.
Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce and water. Set aside.
In a pan, heat oil but not to smoking point. Pour this over the fish and quickly drizzle the soy sauce mixture to blanch the onions.
When my aunt uses sliced black mushrooms (about half cup), she sautees them till wilted and lightly salts them. She adds the mushrooms just before serving.