Steamed Gem Fish with soy sesame sauce

This recipe is very special to my family. Whenever my parents visit my siblings and I in Melbourne, my dad will buy a whole fish from the Market and my mom will always cook this dish. I am normally just a spectator whenever my mom and sister work in the kitchen, they are the master chefs of my household. Since I got married and moved out of the family home, at times I crave this dish. With my mom in a different continent and my sister nowhere to be seen, I have to do my best to stop the craving. 

My dad normally buys a whole white fish with very firm flesh, but because I only live with my husband, I exchange the whole fish with fillets. The local fish monger recommended the Gem Fish and it is now one of my favourite fishes for steamed dish, and it is very affordable.

Ingredients

Gem fish fillets 

Spring Onion - cut to 3cm in length, then cut the pieces to half

Fresh Coriander leaves

Ginger (2 cm block) - cut the whole ginger to thin match sticks

Dark soy sauce - 2 table spoon

Light soy sauce - 1 table spoon

Sesame oil - 1 tea spoon

Sugar - 1 tea spoon

Salt

Cooking method

Prepare the steamer. Wash the fish fillets, rub salt on skin side,  spread the match stick ginger evenly on the skin, place fillets in the steamer skin side up, cover to cook. The fish will only take about 5 - 10 minutes to cook, depending on the size of the fillets.  The flesh will look white and firm when it is cooked.

Transfer the fillets to a serving plate. Cooked fillet breaks really easily so be extra careful. Remove ginger from fish. Place spring onion and fresh coriander leaves on top of the fish. Put aside.

In a sauce pan, heat up sesame oil, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce. When it is boiling add sugar. Let the sugar dissolve. Taste to test the balance of flavours, if it is not sweet enough add a little bit more sugar. Let the sugar dissolve before tasting as too much sugar will ruin the taste.

Pour the still boiling sauce on the fish. The heat should cook the spring onion and coriander a bit. My husband prefers the spring onion to be fully cooked. For him, I cook the spring onion with cooking oil before placing it on top of the fish. The spring onion should be ready when the pieces are soft but the colour is still fresh green. When it turns dark green, it is over cooked. 

Serve dish with rice and simple stir fried vegetables.