Thursday 12 July 2012

Steamed Fish



The first time that I properly travelled abroad alone was probably back in 2004. To Hong Kong. Prior to that, I just went to either HK or Canada with my family, but only occasssionally. Since then, I think that I have been back to HK over 5 times. Each time, to stay with my grandma. 

Hong Kong is an amazing place. Everything is 24 hours; instant, fast, and efficient. Most people go back for the food and the shopping. Not me. I went back to see my grandma, absorb some rays of sunlight and to take photos. I didn't particularly want to eat out. But, I always wanted to go to eat the fresh fish. 

Fresh fish is sold everywhere in HK. By fresh, I really mean fresh. To the point of picking out the fish from the tank, watching it being scooped out, killed and prepared; either in the wet-market or in a supermarket (not too dissimilar to Tescos). There is nothing else that you need to do to the fish, except sprinkle with copious amounts of spring onions and ginger, steam for no longer than 10 minutes and finish with a sizzling of hot oil and soy sauce. At home, we usually cook the whole fish. My mum always put a whole spring onion on the bottom (no idea why) but I still do it as well. My grandad (dad's dad) loves to make it as well. He's the expert time-keeper to make sure that the fish is steamed for exactly the right amount of time.

Freshly steamed fish is a classic Cantonese dish. So good and so tasty. So Chinsey. Always reminds me of home and Hong Kong.

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