I’m kicking off this week of Chinese New Year with a classic – whole steamed fish! This dish is a staple at Cantonese wedding banquets and special occasions. In Chinese mythology, fish symbolize wealth and abundance. During the new year, fish is traditionally served whole (yep, keep the head and tail on) to represent wholeness and completeness for the upcoming year. The pronunciation for the word fish is also similar to the word for abundance, so it is an extra lucky dish!
This was my first time cooking a whole fish, and it was definitely a first time experiment. I bought a striped bass from 99 Ranch, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they clean the fish for you, which saved a lot of time in the kitchen. The fish barely fit in my biggest wok, I set up a makeshift steamer using a wire rack set inside the wok, and I also didn’t have a lid for this wok, so I just covered it with aluminum foil to try to keep the steam in. But hey, it all worked out and still tasted great!
Ingredient highlight
In Chinese herbal medicine, ginger is considered warm and acrid, and is used to alleviate stomach upset, nausea or motion sickness. It is also great to take when you’re coming down with a cold, and helps to warm the lungs and stop coughing. Green onion is also a warm and pungent herb that is commonly used with ginger to treat the common cold. Cilantro is pungent, bitter and cool in temperature to increase circulation, help with indigestion and promote sweating when treating the common cold.
In Chinese medicine, fish strengthens the Spleen and Stomach, dries Dampness and regulates the Blood. It is a good source of animal protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and is beneficial to heart health.
**I used the Steamed Whole Fish recipe from The Woks of Life – check out their post here for the full recipe and wonderfully detailed descriptions on how to steam without a steamer and how to serve a whole fish.
Substitutions / alterations
If you don’t have access to a whole fish / don’t want to deal with the bones / don’t have a large cooking container, this recipe works just as well with any kind of white fish fillet.
References
Bensky, D., Clavey, S., Stoger, E., & Gamble, A. (2004). Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd Edition. Seattle, WA: Eastland Press, Inc.
Pitchford, Paul. (2002). Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, 3rd Edition. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Wang, Y., Sheir, W., & Ono, M. (2010). Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.