The original recipe for steamed fish with rice flour was for steamed pork with rice flour, but fish is a bit more delicate.
When the fish was almost marinated, Xu Niannian added a few drops of lemon juice, which, along with ginger slices, helps remove any fishy smell, but lemon juice also enhances the fish's freshness and fragrance.
After adding the lemon juice and waiting for another two minutes or so, the fish was mostly seasoned by then.
Plenty of water seeped out of the fish from the marination, combined with the seasonings in the bowl, resulting in a lot of marinating liquid.
Xu Niannian poured out all the marinating liquid, then sprinkled on some starch. The starch helps lock in the moisture and also the flavor of the seasonings.
After coating the fish with starch, Xu Niannian started heating the oil. Once the oil was hot, she picked up the wok, stopped heating it, and slipped the fish covered in starch into the scalding oil.
