Tied to the year's first new moon, Lunar New Year falls on February 17, with pre-festivities beginning a few days earlier. Celebrations include cleansing the home of any bad luck, getting together with loved ones and sharing lots of good food.

According to professional chef Alan Kang, “Lunar New Year is about bringing family together and celebrating life, prosperity and good health.”

“Usually, most of the food embodies some kind of representation of how your year will start,” he adds.

Every year, Chef Alan celebrates the holiday with a traditional Chinese whole steamed fish. In many Asian cultures, the dish represents abundance and symbolizes good luck and prosperity.

We hope you cook this dish to celebrate the holiday, explore different cultures and savor delicious flavors — happy New Year!

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients

For the Fish:

1 whole white fish (such as dorade, sea bass or striped bass)
2 ounces ginger, ⅛” slices
salt to taste
2 ounces rice wine

For the Sauce:

3 ounces soy sauce
4 ounces Shaoxing wine
3 ounces sugar
4 ounces water
scallion scraps
ginger scraps

For the Garnish:

1 ½ ounces sesame oil
2 ounces ginger, fine julienne
2 ounces green onions, fine julienne
2 ounces cilantro, chopped

Directions

Clean fish (gutted, scaled, fins removed) and score 3 lines along both sides of skin. Insert ginger into score marks on both sides and season fish with salt.
In a small sauce pot, combine sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil and set aside to infuse.
Set up a steamer. Place fish on a heatproof plate and pour rice wine on top. Steam over high heat 10-12 minutes, depending on fish size.
While fish steams, heat sesame oil (for garnish) in separate pan until just before smoking (around 375°F.) and reserve.
Place fish in a large, shallow plate and remove ginger. Pour sauce on top, just up to ¼ of the way up fish. (It should not be soupy.)
Top fish with garnishes, pouring sesame oil over aromatics. Serve immediately.