Easy miso sauce for noodles

For ➍ 

1 heaping tbs white miso paste 

1 tbs plain peanut butter or Chinese sesame paste 

1 tbs toasted sesame oil 

½ tbs chili garlic sauce, adjust according to desired spice 

½ tb soy sauce 

1 ts dark soy sauce, optional for colour 

½ tbs maple syrup or other sweetener like mirin

½ tbs rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar 

1 ts minced garlic 

1 scallion chopped 

Mix everything together. Add to the boiled and drained noodles.

Chicken & pak choi

For ➋
75 g boneless & skinless chicken breast, cut into thin pieces
2 tbs oil
200 g pak choi, sliced into pieces
2.5 cm piece ginger, peeled & sliced into pieces
marinade:
½ tbs soy sauce
½ tbs cornstarch
sauce:
½ tbs oyster sauce
2 tb water
¼ ts sesame oil
3 dashes white pepper
1 ts wine
½ ts sugar

Marinate the chicken with the ingredients in marinade for 10 m. Combine all the ingredients in the sauce in a small bowl, stir to blend well.
Heat ½ tbs oil in a wok until the oil becomes hot. Add the chicken and quickly stir-fry until the surface of the chicken turn opaque or white. Dish out and set aside. This step seals in the juice in the chicken so the texture is tender and velvety smooth.
Heat up the remaining oil in the wok until hot. Add the ginger into the wok and stir-fry until aromatic. Add the chicken back into the wok and do a few quick stirs. Add in the pak choi and stir to combine well. Transfer the sauce into the wok and continue to stir-fry until the pak choi is cooked but remain crisp. Do not overcook.
Dish out & serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Ginger steamed cod with chilli soy sauce

For ➍
dipping sauce:
8 cl low sodium tamari or soy sauce
2 tbs rice vinegar
2 ts minced red chilli
1 ts minced garlic
1 ts sugar
cod:
1 tbs peanut oil
1 ts sesame oil
300 g baby pak choi, trimmed & halved lengthwise
170 g shiitake or crimini mushrooms, halved
1 piece (7.5 cm) ginger, peeled & julienned
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced
4 cod fillets (150-170 g each), fresh, thawed or frozen*

Thoroughly mix dipping sauce ingredients; set aside.
In a deep frying pan, sauté pak choi and mushrooms in peanut and sesame oils over medium-high heat until crisp-tender. Remove and keep warm.
Wipe pan clean. Bring 2.5 cm of water to boil; turn off heat. Place metal steamer basket in pan and open up sides. Portion ginger and ¾ of green onions in basket. Rinse any ice glaze from frozen cod under cold water; place fillets in steamer. Return water to boil; cover loosely and steam just until fish is opaque throughout, about 5 to 7 m. (Reduce cook time by half for fresh or thawed fillets.)
Serve cod over sautéed vegetables with dipping sauce; garnish with remaining green onion slices.

*Substitute pollock or sole fillets for cod, adjusting cook time for smaller fillets if necessary.

Steamed bass & pak choi

For ➋
small piece of ginger, peeled & sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
3 scallions, finely sliced
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
splash of sherry or sake (optional)
2 x 140 g fillets sea bass
2 heads pak choi, quartered

In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients, except the fish and the pak choi, together to make a soy mix.
Line one tier of a two-tiered bamboo steamer loosely with foil. Lay the fish, skin side up, on the foil and spoon over the soy mix. Place the fish over simmering water and throw the pak choi into the second tier and cover it with a lid. Alternatively, add the pak choi to the fish layer after 2 m of cooking – the closer the tier is to the steam, the hotter it is.
Leave everything to steam for 6-8 m until the pak choi has wilted and the fish is cooked.
Divide the greens between two plates, then carefully lift out the fish. Lift the foil up and drizzle the tasty juices back over the fish.

Steamed scallops with ginger, soy, sesame oil & spring onions

For ➍
16 scallops, in the shell
1 ts fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs coriander, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, thinly sliced

Pour 2.5 cm of water into the base of a wide shallow pan and bring it up to the boil.
Loosen the scallops from their shells but leave them in place. Sprinkle each one with some of the ginger.
Arrange the scallops, in batches if necessary, on a petal steamer. Lower them into the pan, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for about 4 m until just set. Remove and keep warm while you cook the rest. Meanwhile, put the sesame oil and soy sauce into a small pan and warm through.
Lift the scallops onto 4 warmed plates and pour over some of the warm soy sauce and sesame oil. Sprinkle over the coriander and spring onions and serve immediately.

Japanese grilled soy ginger swordfish

For ➍
600-800 g swordfish steaks
4 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs sake
2 tbs mirin
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2.5 cm piece fresh ginger root, peeled & chopped fine
2-3 scallions, minced

Combine marinade ingredients in a shallow dish. Place swordfish and cover with marinade. Let marinate for at least 1 h.
Remove fish from marinade. Pour marinade into small saucepan over high heat, and cook until thickened.
Grill swordfish on both sides over medium heat over prepared charcoals, brushing marinade over fish as it cooks.
Place swordfish on serving plates. Spoon any leftover marinade over the fish and top with minced scallions.*

*Serve with steamed rice, or with quinoa, couscous or steamed vegetables. Since the sauce is so tasty, serve with something that absorbs the sauce. Grilling always yields the best taste, but baking in an oven works fine too.

Steamed fish with ginger & scallions

For ➋-➍
600-800 g fish [porgy, black sea bass, Boston mackerel, or trout], scaled & gutted*
5-6 scallions, divided
4 cm knob ginger**
[optional alternatives: coriander or chilli]**
salt & pepper, for seasoning
1 ts Shaoxing wine or sherry
1 lime, juice & zest, divided
3 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs fine mild red wine vinegar
1 tbs sesame seeds
4 tbs sesame oil
[optional green: sautéed pak choi]
[optional aromatics for steaming water:
star anise
knob of ginger, roughly sliced
Szechuan peppercorn
scallions or green garlic]

Rinse the fish with cold water inside and out and pat dry. Score a couple of gashes in the flesh on either side of the fish.
Slice 4 of the scallions and the knob ginger into a fine julienne and set aside. Save the scraps for stuffing the fish belly. Season the fish belly with salt and pepper and the ts of wine or sherry.
Stuff the fish with the scallion and ginger scraps and the lime zest.
Take a large stock pot and put about 8 cm of water in it and bring to a boil.
Inside the pot, place an inverted cake pan or some other such thing so that you can rest a large plate with the fish on it inside the pot and out of direct contact with the water. (The fish will be on a plate that is resting on another object that is in direct contact with the bottom of the pot.)
Chop the final scallion into 3 pieces and rest it on the plate. Season the fish with salt and pepper on the outside with and place the fish on the plate.
Place the plate on the object in the pot, cover the pot, and steam over high heat for 10 to 12 m (more for a larger fish), until done.
While the fish is steaming, mix the soy sauce with the vinegar and lime juice.
Remove the fish carefully and place on a serving plate. Place the julienned ginger and scallions across the top of the fish and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
Heat the sesame oil in a small pan until just before smoking, then pour over the fish.
Finally, pour the soy sauce mixture onto the plate and serve. This fish is also quite tasty still served at room temperature.
Serve with rice or some sautéed greens like pak choi.

*This can be made with fish filets, but fish in the bone comes out much more moist and flavorful, as well as being a beautiful presentation.
**Add coriander or chilli to the ginger, or make a mix.