Chinese-style steamed barramundi

SERVES 2

I love barramundi but I have always bought it wild as often the farmed variety can taste a bit muddy. But since tasting Humpty Doo barramundi, I have changed my mind. So much so, that I am asking my fishmonger to order it in for me. After Jimmy Shu (the chef I cooked with in this episode) tasted my dish he declared the same and said he was going to talk to Humpty Doo about getting it for his restaurants.

4 Chinese cabbage (wong bok) leaves

8 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced

220 g (7¾ oz) tin bamboo shoots, drained and thinly sliced

7 cm (2¾ inch) piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced

1 whole barramundi or any firm white-fleshed fish, about 800 g (1 lb 12 oz), scaled, gutted and cleaned

½ teaspoon caster (superfine) sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

5 cm (2 inch) piece of fresh ginger, julienned

3 teaspoons sesame oil

2 long red chillies, thinly sliced

4 tablespoons peanut oil

¼ red capsicum (pepper), very finely julienned

¼ yellow capsicum (pepper), very finely julienned

1 handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped

juice of ½ bush lime or regular lime

Choose a heatproof plate large enough to fit the fish and line it with the Chinese cabbage leaves. Sprinkle half of the sliced spring onions, bamboo shoots and thinly sliced ginger over the cabbage leaves.

Cut three diagonal slits into the flesh of the fish down to the bone and then cut three more in the opposite direction to form a diamond pattern on the side. Do the same to the other side of the fish. Sprinkle a little salt and the sugar over both sides of the fish and then lay the fish on top of the plate lined with Chinese cabbage. Put the julienned ginger inside the cavity of the fish.

Combine the sesame oil and soy sauce then pour the mixture over the fish. Place the plate in a large steamer basket and steam for about 15 minutes. To test if the fish is done, take a knife and place the tip between the flesh and the bone and gently lift upward — if the flesh comes away easily the fish is cooked.

Remove the fish from the steamer, place on a heatproof serving plate and garnish with the remaining spring onions, bamboo shoots and thinly sliced ginger, and also the thinly sliced red chilli. Heat the peanut oil in a small saucepan until smoking hot, thencarefully pour the oil over the top of the fish. Garnish with the red and yellow capsicum, the chopped coriander, the lime juice and a drizzle of soy sauce.