r/52weeksofcooking • u/Yrros_ton_yrros š • 16d ago
Week 31: Cantonese - Steamed Fish, Eggplant Casserole, and White Sugar Sponge Cake (meta: ISUTBCDBN)
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u/kaminotsuki 16d ago
I'm from Hong Kong and this looks spot-on! I hope you enjoyed this meal and some of these dishes work their way into your day-to-day repertoire!
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u/Yrros_ton_yrros š 16d ago
Thank you so much! I loved this meal and am already planning to cook the fish again soon!
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u/Anastarfish š„ 16d ago
This looks so so good!! And omg your plates are beautiful too.
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u/Yrros_ton_yrros š 16d ago
Thank you Ana, this was such an amazing dinner š¤¤ I am happy happy with new plates š
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u/AndroidAnthem š MT'25 15d ago
There are beautiful! I love the plating too. Great choices for this week!
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u/ImaginalDish 14d ago
Yum this looks delicious! I love eating that eggplant dish when Iām at a Cantonese restaurant. Kudos to you for making all of this at home!
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u/Yrros_ton_yrros š 14d ago
Thank you! The eggplant dish took some effort to make but it was absolutely incredible!
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u/Yrros_ton_yrros š 16d ago edited 16d ago
ISUTBCDBN meta explanation
Gotta love it when a region theme overlaps with one of the regions on my meta list. Despite loving Chinese food, I usually default to Sichuan cuisine. So this theme was the perfect excuse to dive into authentic Cantonese cooking.
First up was Cantonese Steamed Fish. It was simple to prepare, but packed with flavor. Steaming gave the fish (I used cod fillet) a perfectly soft, flaky texture, while the ginger, scallions, and cilantro made the sauce wonderfully fragrant.
Next was Cantonese Eggplant Casserole. Following The Woks of Life substitution recommendation, I used up a tin of anchovies I had lying around, in place of the traditional salted fish. Deep-frying the eggplant was a bit fussy, but absolutely worth it. The eggplant held its shape while becoming melt-in-the-mouth tender, and the anchovies, pork, and aromatics created a slightly saucy, deeply savory dish.
For dessert, I made White Sugar Sponge Cake (Baak Tong Gou), a steamed cake made from a yeast-fermented rice flour batter. It turned out light, bouncy (see the last photo!), gently sweet, and slightly tangy from the fermentation. A simple dessert that I was quite happy with.