Oven-steamed Whole Branzino with Black Bean Sauce

Almost every Chinese family has a bottle of chili bean sauce. It helps put together a simple and yet flavorful meal with little effort. Some have hot oil in it, and some don't. Some can be slightly sour, and some not at all. One bottle can be very different from another. It takes some time for you to figure out which one fits your palate best. There is one brand called Lao Gan Ma (literally translated as Old Grandma) which I learned from my roommates in College who were from the "spicy" provinces. It is not acid at all, with a deep and rich black bean texture. They used to eat it like peanut butter. The school canteen boring food instantly turned exciting once they put a dash of that on top.

To my surprise, last weekend, I found the same thing from a supermarket in Chinatown in New York City. As Tuesday is fish day in my house (reason here), I couldn't wait to make a super easy oven steamed fish using Lao Gan Ma.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole branzino
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 3" x 3" piece ginger, thinly sliced 
• 4 tablespoons Lao Gan Ma chili black bean sauce, mixed with 1 teaspoon of low sodium light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher sea salt
• ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 400 degrees.
2. Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides and the cavity. Split the fish through the cavity, flatten and press down the fish on a big baking dish.
3. Divide scallions and ginger to three parts and place them underneath the fish and on both sides of the fish on top. Place 1 tablespoon of the chilli black bean sauce mixture underneath the fish. Spread the other 3 tablespoons on top of the fish. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine and 2 tablespoons of olive oil on top of the fish. Cover the baking dish with foil and steam in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Serve hot.