preparation time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 10 minutes
emergency contact: amy or carol
1 whole fish, cleaned – about 2 lbs (something not too firm like rock bass, striped bass)
ginger slivers – 1/3 cup
scallion slivers – 1/3 cup
dark soy sauce – 4 tbsp
light soy sauce – 1 tbsp
sugar – 1/2 tsp
vegetable or canola oil – 1 cup
NOTE: Ingredient quantities will vary with the size of your fish. In general, you want enough ginger and scallion slivers to cover the fish and enough soy sauce to pool around the fish. For the oil, it’s best to heat up more than you think you’ll need – there should be enough to drizzle over the entire surface of the fish and to hit all the ginger and scallion slivers (it’s the oil that “cooks” the slivers). Also, make the slivers as fine as your patience will allow.
Rinse the fish thoroughly in cold water and pat dry. Place it in a shallow microwavable dish, add about 1 tbsp of water and cover the dish with plastic wrap, leaving a few gaps for steam to escape. Cook the fish in the microwave on high until it just flakes at its thickest point. For a 2 lb fish, this should take 7-8 minutes, with the cooking time depending on the maximum thickness. (For a 1.5 lb fish, this should scale down to about 5.5-6 minutes.) Be careful not to overcook the fish!
In the meantime, heat the oil in a saucepan on the stove until it’s very hot. Check by throwing in a scallion sliver – it should sizzle on contact.
When the fish is done
after microwaving, remove the plastic wrap and pour off the water. Sprinkle the fish with sugar, cover with the ginger and scallion slivers
ginger and scallion slivers and douse with the soy sauces. Place the dish in the sink and arm yourself with an oven mitt. Standing well back, pour
pouring the hot oil the hot oil evenly over the entire fish.
Serve immediately.
