Awakening of Insects · Dinner · Balanced
Steamed sea bass with garlic asparagus
Tender steamed sea bass with crisp garlicky asparagus and rice — a light, clean-tasting spring dinner.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Steam
- Easy
NeutralStrengthens digestion & qiClears heat & moistens
Why it suits you: Balanced types simply follow the season. As Awakening of Insects warms up and liver qi rises, a clean steamed fish is easy to digest and asparagus clears heat — fish, vegetables and rice on one table, eaten to 70% full.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 15 min- 1Rinse the cleaned sea bass, pat it dry with kitchen paper and score each side twice. Lay half the ginger on a plate and put the fish on top.
- 2Once the water boils, steam the fish on a rack over high heat for 8–10 minutes, until the eyes bulge and a chopstick slides easily into the flesh.
- 3Meanwhile, trim the woody ends of the asparagus and cut on the diagonal. Fry the garlic in a little oil until fragrant, add the asparagus and stir-fry on high for 2 minutes with a splash of water and the salt.
- 4Pour off the liquid from the fish plate and top with the remaining ginger and the spring onion. Heat 1 tbsp oil until just smoking, pour it over, add the soy sauce and serve with rice.
Chef's tips
- Pick sea bass with clear eyes and bright red gills; wet-market fish stalls will gut and scale it for you.
- Bend an asparagus spear and it snaps where the woody part starts — trim everything below that point.
The TCM view
Sea bass is sweet and neutral and strengthens digestion and qi; asparagus is sweet and cool, clearing heat and generating fluids; ginger and spring onion are pungent and warm, removing fishiness and balancing the asparagus. Steamed with little oil, it fits the season's rule of light food that won't stoke liver fire.
