On my first trip to China in 1976 I visited Mao’s birthplace. We were taken to communes to see how Chinese people lived, ate, dressed and were schooled. I had been told before I left not to expect great food as the Chinese ate very simply. In fact, as I discovered, they ate very well. On a visit to one commune we were shown a lake where fish swam. The cadre gave the signal for fish to be caught and in what seemed like minutes we were sitting down to beautiful fish smothered with the finest aromatic vegetables. The Chinese are masters at cooking fish and balancing the seasonings, as this dish shows.
The fish is steamed almost to the point of being cooked, and then placed on a warm platter and seasoned. Hot, smoking oil is poured over just before it is taken to the table, which finishes the cooking and makes the flavour of the aromatic herbs and vegetables permeate the fish. The garnish of shredded spring onions, coriander and ginger is fantastic!