Steamed Catfish with Black Bean Paste, Bacon and Scallions
No one cooks like my mom. She can tell me how she cooks something, I can watch how she does it, but my version never comes out like hers! Surely she wouldn’t be leaving key ingredients out, would she??
Steaming is a favorite Chinese method of cooking and reheating food. It keeps food moist, and retains natural nutrients, flavors and juices.
No one cooks like my mom. She can tell me how she cooks something, I can watch how she does it, but my version never comes out like hers! Surely she wouldn’t be leaving key ingredients out, would she??
She presented me with a dish of the seasoned fish the other day. All I had to do was steam it for about twenty minutes, add scallions, and viola! Too easy!
The catch: I had to return her Corelle dish. Pronto. Or lord knows, I’d never get another dish of fish again!
I don’t know exact quantities here (it’s from MOM, after all), but I’m sure she used:
Salt
Pepper
Fermented Black Bean Paste
Garlic Powder
Dried Tangerine Peel
She rubs this all into the fish (I had a good 1 1/2 lb whole catfish here), then lets it marinate. Separately, she cooks chopped bacon and pours it, oil and all, over the fish. Usually, this happens right after the fish is steamed, as the hot oil “shocks” any fishiness out of the fish. But I didn’t have to do this, as my fish was already bathed in delicious bacon fat!
I’ve had different fish cooked in this manner, like sea bass, and I have to say I really like the meatiness of the catfish. The silky smooth, yet sturdy fish holds up nicely to the strong, bright bacon/black bean/scallion flavors. The concentrated punch of citrus from the tangerine peel was an unexpected delight.
I called mom after I ate it, perplexed by the tangerine peel, something I’d never seen or known her to use in steamed fish. “Mom, was there ‘gua pay’ in there?”
“Oh yeah, a little.”
“You never told me you put that in there.”
“Oh really? Yeah.”
Uh huh. Guess I’ll have to keep on working on getting the rest of her secrets. I might have to invest in a whole set of Corelle.
