Ingredients

• 2 x 600g/1lb 5oz whole sea bream
• scaled
• gutted and gills removed
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• grated
• 2 red chillies
• sliced
• 1 orange
• juice only
• 2 limes
• zested and segmented
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic chives
• or Asian chives
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 spring onions
• sliced
• 1 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 lemongrass stalk
• trimmed and finely chopped
• 400g/14oz sticky Asian rice
• soaked for at least three hour
• then rinsed
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 handful coriander cress
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tsp sesame oil

Directions

• First prepare the fish. Using scissors
• remove all fins and trim the tail
• then use a sharp knife to make a few neat diagonal slashes along each side of the fish. Remove the head of the fish if you wish.
• Take a bowl and mix together the fish sauce
• wine
• oyster sauce
• half of the ginger
• half the chillies
• the orange juice
• lime zest
• and half the garlic chives to make the marinade.
• In another bowl
• rip up the kaffir lime leaves and add the remaining ginger
• garlic chives and the white parts of the spring onion. Mix together then pack the mixture inside the belly cavity of the fish.
• Set two large saucepans on the hob with about 5cm/2in water in the bottom of each and bring the water to a simmer. Place a bamboo steamer with a lightly oiled deep plate inside on one pan. Place a colander lined with a muslin cloth on top of the other pan.
• Put the fish on the oiled plate and drizzle over the marinade ingredients. Sprinkle over the Sichuan peppercorns and lemongrass then cover with a lid and steam gently for around 20 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through.
• Meanwhile
• take the soaked
• rinsed rice and put it into the muslin-lined colander. Cover with a lid and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the rice is just tender. Halfway through cooking
• stir the rice with a fork.
• Check the steamers as you cook the rice and fish and top up with a little boiling water as required.
• While the fish and rice are steaming
• place the sugar in a small pan
• cover with about a cup of water and bring to a boil. Pour the syrup over the lime segments and set aside.
• Check the fish is just cooked through by sliding a skewer or chopstick into the fleshy part of the back of the fish.
• Carefully remove the whole fish and arrange on serving platter. Pour over the cooking juices and scatter over sliced green parts of the spring onions
• the sweet and sour lime segments
• coriander cress and sesame seeds.
• Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil and serve the rice alongside.