Heat sauce ingredient, except for the oil ( we will heat this up separately later), in a small pan just until sugar has dissolved. Remove and set aside
Prepare the fish:
Clean fish by rubbing some salt on the skin and inside. This will help to remove fish odor and retain moisture and freshness of the fish when cooked. Rinse off an pat the fish really dry with absorbent paper towel.
Make a few slits on the fish where the flesh is thick
Set up the steamer:
I use a wok with a lid. Place a metal trivet on the wok. Pour in some water. Make sure it's enough to steam the fish so we don't have to refill water in the middle of steaming, which will disturb the cooking time. Not too much water too that it boils over the steaming dish. Bring water in the steamer to a rolling boil
While waiting or the water to boil, place the white part of the green onion sections on a steaming dish, place fish on top of this green onion. This will help to cook both sides of the fish evenly and prevent the skin from sticking to the plate too
Steaming the fish:
Once the water has come to a boil, put the steaming plate inside the steamer. The steaming water should be at a steady simmer, not too harsh that it splatters. Steam fish the fish for about 12 minutes for 450 gr fish or until cooked through. Heat control is crucial here. If you are using fillet fish, you only need about 8-10 minutes to steam the fish
Once 12 minutes is over, turn off the heat but let residual heat to cook the fish for an extra 2 minutes. The fish is done when the eyes pooped out, the mouth is slightly open and the flesh flake easily
Remove the fish and pour away the liquid that has pooled on the plate
Dressing the fish:
Drizzle the sauce over the fish. Scatter julienned green onion and ginger on the fish
Heat up the cooking oil until really hot and you start seeing smoke started to rise. Remove from the heat and very carefully drizzle this hot oil over the green onions and ginger. You will hear a sizzling sound
Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve immediately