full steam ahead

One of my favourite Chinese food utensils is the bamboo steamer. We bought one ages ago and have rarely ever used it. Luckily for me J kept it in the move. I busted it out for my next 2 recipes from Kylie: steamed fish fillets with ginger and spring onions and steamed silken tofu with ginger and spring onions. Both were very similar in technique and had the signature Chinese flavours of ginger, spring onions and soy sauce. Both were light and tasty but the fish was definitely an eye opener for me more than the tofu. The tofu was a bit plain.

I live in the burbs so finding a good fishmonger can be hard and then you throw in the Sustainable Seafood Guide and you choice of fish becomes even more limited (for the better of course). The local Chinese supermarket has an excellent fish counter but I have a thing about live fish. When I was in grade 7 my parents took us back to Hong Kong to visit the Motherland. My grandma hustled my sister and I out to the Chinese market to buy the freshest of ingredients. Amongst the squawks of the chickens and the yelling of the stall vendors were rows of fish all iced. I believe the vendor meant to show us how fresh everything was but instead he traumatized me. He grabbed a live one, sliced it in half as if it was paper and splayed the fish out for all to see. The organs were still moving. I have avoided fish counters at Chinese supermarkets for that reason, although I doubt that behaviour would be permissible in a suburban supermarket. But with my new attempt at cooking I needed to overcome that. But this recipe was not the one to alleviate my fears. I ordered a nice little fish no head this time and headed home. The recipe was easy since it was filets. Hey i'm working in baby steps people.

Kylie's book is filled with amazing how-to images and it's good for a home cook. The instructions are simple and easy to follow. It helps that that book is larger than most cookbooks and the paper is amazing. This is how all cookbooks should be made.

There is one major thing I learned from this recipe: the heating of oil. After everything is cooked you plate your food then heat peanut oil in a small frying pan until moderately hot. Then you pour it over the fish releasing the flavours and giving it an extra punch. It was a revelation for me and when I mentioned it to my Dad he shrugged and said that's how it's always been done. Now I happily carry this tip in my heart as a sign that I'm finding my way to my inner Chinese cook. A for the fish, a B for the tofu.

returning to my chinese roots

I was raised on homemade Chinese food. My dad would come home after work and whip up a simple but delicious meal. I never expressed any interest in what he made as I was growing up and at times wished something other than rice. As I have gotten older I have begun to appreciate the meals he made, the simple yet intricate flavours but I never made any effort to learn how he did it. When I finally asked him to tell me how he did it I realized that he made everything freestyle. He could open the fridge and whip up something, the recipes were burnt into his memory and that he never made anything the same way.

I am ashamed to say I don't really know how to make anything Chinese food related. I grew up complacent about it and thought it would just come naturally to me after watching my Dad all these years. Reality is that this type of cooking does not just spring from my mind and despite the fact that I have the trappings of traditional Chinese cooking (large cleaver, wok, bamboo steamer, rice cooker) I have no idea how to go beyond making rice or stir fry. I am determined to change that with the help of Kylie Kwong's Simple Chinese Cooking.

This book is big and beautiful, the recipes are simple and familiar. It also comes with a good Chinese food primer. Armed with the book I went to T&T and picked up bottles of soy sauce, vinegar and cooking wine I am ready to return to my Chinese roots.