Ginger and Scallion Fish (姜葱鱼片)
January 27th, 2010 | Chinese New Year, Chinese, Chinese Recipes | 29 Comments
Chinese (Lunar) New Year falls on February 14 this year. In less than three weeks time, Chinese all over the would will be ushering in the year of Tiger. According to Chinese zodiac, this is the year of Golden Tiger, which signifies a prosper, courageous, and fearless year. I am personally looking forward to the year of Tiger and pray hard that the Golden Tiger will bring happiness and great health to my family and that all my dreams will come true.
A big celebration such as Chinese (Lunar) New Year calls for many scrumptious dishes; most importantly, we believe that certain ingredients signify great meanings to what lie ahead in the coming year. For example: fish, dried oysters, fat choy (hair moss or hair weed), all of them are lucky foods that will guarantee buckets of savings and money (fish), good market (dried oysters), and great fortune (hair moss). I know, Chinese are superstitious but I am a firm believer…(get ginger and scallion fish recipe after the jump)
While steamed fish is one of the most popular fish recipes for Chinese New Year, I am going to share with you a new idea, ginger and scallion fish (姜葱鱼片), which is easier to make and “friendlier,” meaning you won’t see fish eyeballs popping out of its head and no tail, fins, and bones! Plus, fish fillet is a lot more accessible to most people.
I used frozen Basa (龙利) fish fillet which is commonly served at Chinese restaurants here in the US. You can get them in the frozen seafood section at Asian food stores. The texture is firm and the taste is very subtle, pleasing, and non-fishy, and they are ideal for stir-fries such as this ginger and scallion fish.
Ingredients:
10 oz. Basa fish fillet (cut into pieces)
2-inch ginger (skin peeled and cut into thin slices)
2 stalks scallion (cut into 2-inch lengths)
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
Sauce:
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
3-4 tablespoons water
Salt to taste
3 dashes white pepper powder
Marinate:
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
Method:
Marinate the fish for about 10 minutes. Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat up the wok with cooking oil. Add ginger slices into the wok when the oil is very hot. Stir-fry the ginger until aromatic and add in the fish fillet. Stir-fry the fish until they are half cooked. Add in the sauce and continue to stir-fry until the fish is cooked through. If the sauce dries out, add in a little water. Add in the chopped scallions and do a few quick stirs, dish out and serve hot.
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I so looking forward to the Lunar New Year,the red envelopes happy spirits and good food. This is relatively easy to make it seem although seafood would be new territory for me. Wish me luck
I love the recipe! Always nice to have other options than steamed fish for CNY – it’s good, but I tend to prefer other fish preparations. This is still traditional, but a bit different :)
I always have fish every Chinese New Year too. Good to keep the tradition!
Ah … I miss this very much. My mom cooks it often at home, not just for Chinese New Year. So full of flavour and so delicious.
This recipe sounds so easy and delicious, I could always use another seafood recipes in archive… Thank you soo much I’ll definitely be making this tomorrow night!
Similarly, Vietnamese also have celebratory dishes for the New Years too–although it seems like it’s different than fish, dried oysters, and fat choy… and we’re posting a short series on that.
I like this a lot!!!!! And frozen basa fillets are abundant over here, must make for CNY!!!!!! Thanks Bee!
Awesome, can’t wait to learn more. :)
This is looks de-lish!!! I love fish with simple ingredients to accompany it. Too much spices over power the natural flavours of the actual fish. Although, I have found that the fish usually breaks/falls apart when I stir fry it so I normally just blanch it in boiling water with ginger slices and then add it to the stir fry right at the last minute.
Keep up the good cooking, I LOVE your website!!
Yes, you can blanch the fish fillet first, but I am usually lazy and skip the step! ;)
I’ve been seeing this fish fillet in Asian markets, but haven’t been brave enough to get it. Will add this to my menu next week. I think this type of fish can be used for fish and chips too, since its firm enough. Thanks!
Good luck to you and everyone else in the year of the Golden Tiger. This dish looks so clean and delicious! Will definitely look for the Basa!
Tiga here is not golden (a wooden one according to Chinese zodiac) but sure all your wishes will come true :) Fish (yu) is surplus….so we should have surplus of all the good things, ok? Healthy, happiness, fortune, prosperity, “Vitamin M” ……..heh heh.
My parents’ ritual is steamed fish for reunion dinner. This year, I will be in CA during CNY. Wonder what I should eat?
I don’t live any where near an Asian grocery store that would sell Basa. Can you suggest a substitute?
Tried Basa(catfish) and tiliapia before(using the steaming method) and never liked it due to the ‘muddy’ taste. How does one get rid of the muddy taste. Any idea?
This looks great. Basa is also a really renewable fish…way to go!
actually, the time, the Tiger arrives on Feb. 4, 10 days earlier than Luna New Year.
Such a gorgeous dish! I have to make it soon! This really is my favorite thing to eat!
I can almost smell the aroma of that ginger n scallion. I love my fish this way, so easy to make and yet it never fails you.
You don’t know how much i would love to be at your house for Chinese New Year. I bet it’s gonna be some feast! eh? Me too, I want lucky foods that will bring me buckets of money. :)
The ginger/scallion combo always works for me. I bet this is delicious!
The malls here in Malaysia look super great with red lanterns and other CNY deco.
I love fish fillet. Nice recipe!
I love this recipe. Ginger and scallions are so good together! Looking forward to more Chinese recipes for the Chinese New Year.
Oh.. this looks so good. I must bookmark this and try it soon. Thanks for sharing.
Update:
Tried this recipe. Yummy!!! Slight modification on the preparation, I steamed the fish first. Cook the sauce separately using the “juice” from the steamed fish. Then, pour the sauce over the steamed fish.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. We liked it so much. There was not even a single drip of sauce left on the plate.
tks for sharing this, I love it. Cooked with toman instead, as I couldn’t find basa. :)
Sounds good, hope you like your ginger and scallion fish.
Hi thank u for the recipe! I just tried it and I absolutely love this dish! It’s very tasty and I’m so thankful to have a taste of Msia while being abroad.
Tried this dish last night. Simple and delicious. Quick way to cook fish Chinese style besides the regular steamed fish. Thanks for the recipe!