Steamed Fish with Ginger & Soy (Qing Zheng Yu)

The story

Cantonese cooking judges a kitchen by its steamed fish: pure, silky, clean. It sounds intimidating and is secretly one of the laziest impressive dishes on earth — no flipping, no sticking, no breading, and the steamer forgives you completely.

Ingredients (5 + pantry staples)

• Firm white fish fillets (cod, tilapia, snapper) — 1 lb / 450 g
• Ginger — 2-inch piece, julienned
• Scallions — 3, julienned
• Soy sauce — 2 tbsp
• Toasted sesame oil — 1 tsp

Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): sugar (pinch), cooking oil (1.5 tbsp). Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.

Steps

1. Lay fish on a heatproof plate, ginger on top. Steam over high heat 8–10 minutes (1 inch thick) until it flakes.
2. Pour off the fishy liquid. Pile scallions on the fish; add soy sauce mixed with sugar around the edge.
3. Heat oil + sesame oil until shimmering; pour over the scallions. The sizzle is the dish.

Swaps

Frozen thawed fillets steam beautifully (add 2 minutes). Salmon works — more oil, same drama.