The Sinosphere · Volume 31, The Wok’s Breath, the Tea Trolley and the Coconut Coast
Ching jing yu, Cantonese steamed fish
The Pearl River Delta
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- 20 minutes
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
The Pearl River Delta. A dish with no room to hide a fish that isn't fresh.
As tradition built it
Serves 2 to 4. 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 whole white fish, 500 to 750g, gutted and scaled, very fresh
- a small handful each julienned ginger and spring onion
For the dressing
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- a splash a splash of oil, to finish
Method
- Score the fish lightly and lay a little ginger inside the cavity and over the flesh.
- Bring a steamer to a full, rolling boil before the fish goes in.
- Set the fish on a heatproof plate, raised slightly above the base of the steamer basket so steam circulates underneath it too.
- Steam at full heat, timed by weight: roughly 8 minutes for a 500g fish, 10 minutes for 750g.
- Take the fish off the heat and let it rest under the lid for a further 3 to 5 minutes on residual steam alone, without lifting the lid.
- While it rests, warm the light soy, dark soy, sugar and water gently until the sugar dissolves.
- Uncover, scatter over fresh julienned spring onion and ginger, pour over a splash of very hot oil so it sizzles audibly, then finish with the warm soy dressing.
What a modern chef changes
The same discipline, made exact.
Rung 2
Method
- Weigh the fish precisely and set a timer to the exact ratio above, rather than estimating; this dish rewards precision more than almost any other in the chapter.
- Use a probe thermometer through the thickest part of the fillet to confirm an internal temperature in the low 60s°C at the point of resting, then let residual heat carry it the rest of the way exactly as tradition does.
- Finish the dressing in a small pan brought just to a simmer, never boiled hard, so the soy's aroma is not driven off before it reaches the fish.