PLACE THE FISH ON A PLATTER large enough to hold it,
and sprinkle it with salt. Squeeze the chunk of ginger
in your hand to extract the juice, letting it sprinkle
over the fish. (The ginger must be fresh and you must
have strong hands to do this; as an alternative, use a
garlic press.) Chop the garlic and fermented black
beans together. Don't chop too fine or the mixture
will become a paste and turn bitter. Scatter the
beans, garlic, shredded scallions and shredded ginger
over the fish. Mix the soy sauce, rice wine and sugar.
Pour it over the fish. If the plate is too long to fit
in a bamboo steamer or a wok, improvise a steamer. For
example, a roasting pan could serve the purpose, with
a trivet standing in the middle to hold the plate. Set
the plate on the trivet. Pour boiling water into the
pan, but not enough to reach the plate. Cover the pan
with aluminum foil and crimp the edges to seal it. Put
the pan over low heat to keep the water simmering. A
fish 1-inch thick at its widest point will take 10
minutes in the steamer. (The covered pan can also be
placed in a 400F oven to cook for the same length of
time.) When the fish is done, remove the plate from
the steamer. A thin sauce will have formed on the
plate. Heat the peanut oil and sesame oil in a small
saucepan almost to the smoking point, and pour the
mixture over the fish.
