Steaming is a popular cooking method throughout China, valued for its health and nutritional benefits, so the theme this week is steamed food 💨.
Steamed Sweet Rice Meatballs
The rice here is not exactly sweet - it’s more sticky, and it pairs wonderfully with the flavorful meatballs. In fact, you can actually use any white rice if you don’t have sweet rice on hand. With protein & grains, this dish can serve as a full meal all on its own - who needs vegetables? (Lily does not approve this message).
The Chinese city 仙桃 (Xiān Táo) in central China is home to steamed dishes and is famous for its Three Steamed Delicacies of 沔阳 (Miǎn Yáng), which is the ancient name for the city. The Three Delicacies of 1) rice flour covered fish, 2) ⬆️ sweet rice meatballs, and 3) assorted veggies are served together as a delicious meal.
Food Lore
Steamed meatballs can be traced back to the late Yuan Dynasty 元朝 (Yuán cháo) in the 13th century during the Red Scarf Peasant Uprising. During this time, peasant soldiers often had to eat undercooked or cold food. But after the troops won a key battle in 沔阳 (Miǎn Yáng), the wife of one of the generals used sweet rice to steam all kinds of foods and provided the troops with a deliciously steamed hot meal to celebrate their victory.
Steamed sweet rice meatballs were one of the foods enjoyed by the soldiers, and people nicknamed this dish “pearl meatballs,” after the pearly white sweet rice on the outside of the meatballs.
Notes
This is the sweet rice we use, but you also just use white, jasmine rice! Also, you don’t need a steamer to steam foods - you can use a large pan as well 😊.
Steamed Cod
Steamed whole fish is a centerpiece of Chinese New Year’s Eve dinners, because the word for fish, 鱼 (yú), and the word for surplus, 余 (yú), sound the same. So, traditionally, eating a whole fish brought with it new year wishes of having a bountiful harvest and surplus food. Today, the wishes for a “surplus” apply to health and happiness for the whole family - in Chinese, we say 年年有余 (nián nián yǒu yú).
Along the southern and eastern coastal regions of China, steaming freshly caught fish is a delicacy. Because the fish are so fresh, recipes emphasize using minimal spices and oils to preserve the natural flavor of the fish. In Chinese, this is called 原汁原味 (yuán zhī yuán wēi), or “original sauce, original flavor.”
Food Lore
This recipe is adapted from Lily’s grandmother’s recipe, with her signature “sizzle sauce” of sesame oil and Sichuan peppercorns. She got the idea for this sauce from a steamed egg breakfast dish that was a family favorite. After steaming the egg, she would add sesame oil, chopped green onion, and a teaspoon of soy sauce flavored with Sichuan peppercorn.
Because Lily’s grandfather especially loved the taste of sesame oil with Sichuan peppercorns, she started experimenting with a similar sauce for steaming fish. She found that it paired particularly nicely with yellow croaker, an ocean fish similar to cod, and this lightly steamed fish dish became a permanent fixture at family gatherings. Even today, this dish is still a favorite of Lily’s mother (Lisa’s grandmother)!
Notes
Ginger is a critical ingredient in fish dishes as it helps keep the fish tasting fresh and delicious. For the fish, we recommend using cod, salmon, or Chilean sea bass - but honestly, you can steam any fish you want! The main requirement is that the fish be as fresh as possible because this lightly steamed recipe will give the fish’s natural flavor center stage 😊.