Steamed Fish with Fermented Black Beans

Finely chop 2 spring onions, 4-5 slices of ginger and the garlic; cut the chilli into segments and put a spoonful of black beans together in a bowl.

Once cleaned, cut the fish into finger-thick pieces, sprinkle with a little salt, mix and set aside to marinate. (Do not use too much salt or the fish will turn out too salty.)

Heat a clean wok over medium-high heat until dry, add a generous amount of oil and heat until very hot. Add the fish piece by piece, arranging with chopsticks so it fries evenly to one colour. Swirl the wok now and then so the fish does not stick; once it turns lightly golden, lower the heat so it does not burn. Fry both sides until golden.

Turn the heat to low and push the fish to one side with a spatula.

Add the prepared chilli, ginger, spring onion, garlic and black beans into the wok, add a little salt and stir gently over low heat. Push the fish back, combine with the aromatics and toss lightly.

Add 1 spoon cooking wine, 1/3 spoon soy sauce, 1 spoon steamed fish soy sauce and about 1-2 g MSG, then add enough water to cover about two-thirds of the fish. Stir evenly with a spatula, drizzle in a few drops of sesame oil and turn off the heat.

Transfer the fish piece by piece into a bowl, then spoon the remaining black beans, spring onion, ginger and garlic over the top of the fish.

Place the plated black bean fish into a pressure cooker and steam on the 'fish' setting until done. (Without a pressure cooker, use an ordinary pot: bring the water to a boil from cold, then steam for about 6 minutes.)

Remove from the heat, sprinkle with chopped spring onion and enjoy. Fragrant and great with rice.