Steamed Sea Bass with Scallion Oil

葱油鲈鱼

Steamed Sea Bass with Scallion Oil — CantoneseGuangzhou home cooking.

Ingredients

• whole sea bass (skin-on, scaled, gutted, ~500 g)
• scallions
• peanut oil or vegetable oil
• light soy sauce

Instructions

1. Score both sides of fish with three 1-cm-deep diagonal cuts. Rub inside and out with ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp Shaoxing wine. Stuff cavity with 2 slices ginger and 2 scallion whites. (Cuts gape slightly; fish surface feels tacky, not wet.)
2. Place fish on a heatproof plate. Steam over high heat for 10 minutes (for 500 g fish) until flesh flakes easily with a fork and turns opaque white. (Flesh is pearly white and separates cleanly along muscle lines.)
3. Carefully pour off any accumulated water from the plate. Discard ginger and scallion whites. Scatter ¼ cup fresh scallion greens over hot fish. (Scallions wilt slightly but retain bright green color.)
4. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering (170°C / 340°F). Immediately pour hot oil over scallions — it should sizzle loudly and bubble vigorously. (Oil ripples and shimmers; thin wisps of smoke rise.)
5. Drizzle light soy sauce evenly over fish. Let rest 1 minute before serving with steamed rice. (Soy sauce pools lightly in fish crevices without flooding.)