1    Whole fish (1-1/2 to 2 lbs)

           -(sea bass, whitefish, pike,
           - trout, rock cod)
           - cleaned and scaled
  1 1/2 ts Salt

      1    1" piece fresh ginger root

           - smashed
      2    Garlic cloves

           - roughly chopped
      2 tb Fermented black beans

      2    Whole scallions; shredded

      3 sl Fresh ginger root; shredded

      2 tb Soy sauce

      2 tb Chinese rice wine

           -=OR=- Dry sherry
      1 pn Sugar

  1 1/2 tb Peanut oil

    1/2 ts Sesame oil

  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.