When it comes to food, oftentimes you will hear the common refrain of “letting the ingredients shine” and “highlighting the quality of the food” - sure, these can sound like tired cliches, or to the truly cynical, things to say when you think the chef is just being lazy by not spending 24 hours and a portion of their sanity creating a dish, but they're so often said for a reason.
(A quick aside below - skip ahead if you’re just want the technique and recipe, kthxbye)
Being a third-culture cook who appreciates both preparing as well as enjoying food from a distinctly Western and East Asian perspective, I oftentimes see the more derogatory view of "letting the ingredients shine" coming from those who believe the pinnacle of cuisine is classical French cooking. While I have nothing against classic French cuisine, I actually quite love it, but when fine dining is built upon labor intensive techniques and mother sauces that can take hours to prepare, you can understand why I appreciate simple dishes that require fewer ingredients while still delivering peak flavor and nuance.
One of my favorite dishes to prepare is an homage to my Chinese heritage - both Shanghai and Hong Kong - but also my upbringing and training (or lack thereof) in Western culinary tradition. This dish - Cantonese Style Chilean Sea Bass - is made with my own tweaks and changes based on this blended culinary upbringing. Classically this dish is a whole steamed fish delicately flavored with soy, ginger, green onion, and cilantro and finished with hot oil. It’s a simple yet luxurious and delicious dish, yet it only has 5 ingredients - sometimes, less is truly more.
Let’s dive in.
(A quick aside below - skip ahead if you’re just want the technique and recipe, kthxbye)
Being a third-culture cook who appreciates both preparing as well as enjoying food from a distinctly Western and East Asian perspective, I oftentimes see the more derogatory view of "letting the ingredients shine" coming from those who believe the pinnacle of cuisine is classical French cooking. While I have nothing against classic French cuisine, I actually quite love it, but when fine dining is built upon labor intensive techniques and mother sauces that can take hours to prepare, you can understand why I appreciate simple dishes that require fewer ingredients while still delivering peak flavor and nuance.
One of my favorite dishes to prepare is an homage to my Chinese heritage - both Shanghai and Hong Kong - but also my upbringing and training (or lack thereof) in Western culinary tradition. This dish - Cantonese Style Chilean Sea Bass - is made with my own tweaks and changes based on this blended culinary upbringing. Classically this dish is a whole steamed fish delicately flavored with soy, ginger, green onion, and cilantro and finished with hot oil. It’s a simple yet luxurious and delicious dish, yet it only has 5 ingredients - sometimes, less is truly more.
Let’s dive in.
