This Friday is Chinese New Year, a 15 day-long holiday that begins on the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar; this year will ring in the Year of the Horse. To celebrate, how about a Steamed Sea Bass in Hot Beer with Ginger & Lime from Chinese Food Made Easy with Ching-He Huang on Gusto TV? According to Chinese tradition, fish are believed to symbolize good fortune because their scales resemble coins, and swimming in schools symbolizes abundance. Steamed fish served in a soy and spring onion oil originated in southern China, where steaming is a common cooking technique; it's a popular dish to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Ching’s tips: When choosing the dish for steaming, choose one that you are happy to use as a serving dish too (this saves having to transfer the fish and means less washing up), but it should be heatproof. Also make sure that the dish is deep enough to hold all the delicious sauce. If you don’t have a large enough steamer, place the fish on a heatproof plate and put on a roasting rack in a tin. Put the tin in the oven and carefully pour boiling water into the tin. Cover with foil and cook for 8–10 minutes at 400F, or until the flesh flakes when poked and has turned opaque.

Steamed Sea Bass in Hot Beer with Ginger & Lime

2.5cm/1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into long thin strips
1 spring onions, sliced into long strips
1 whole wild sea bass (550g/11/4lb), de-scaled, gutted, cleaned and skin scored
2 tablespoons Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry
For the hot ginger lime and beer sauce
2 tablespoons groundnut oil
1 tablespoon freshly grated root ginger
zest of 1 lime
330ml bottle Chinese beer or any light beer
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 spring onions, sliced into long strips
1 large handful of fresh coriander, leaves and stalks, roughly chopped

Either drape some of the ginger and spring onion strips across the fish or tuck them within the scores in the skin, then put the rest inside the fish. Place the fish on a heatproof plate or dish (see Ching’s tips) and pour the rice wine or sherry over it. Place the plate in a large bamboo steamer (see Ching’s tips) and cover, then place on top of a pan of boiling water (making sure the water does not touch the base of the steamer). Steam the fish for 8–10 minutes (depending on the size of the fish) until the flesh flakes when poked with chopsticks. Turn off the heat and leave the fish in the steamer.

To make the sauce, heat a large pan or wok and heat the groundnut oil. Add the ginger and stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the lime zest, followed by the beer and soy sauce. Stir and, as the liquid comes to the boil, add the spring onions and coriander, then take off the heat immediately.

Remove the plate and fish from the bamboo steamer, pour the sauce over the fish and serve immediately with some steamed wild and basmati rice.

Chinese Food Made Easy airs Fridays at 6 and 6:30 p.m. EST on Gusto TV starting January 31st. Delicious and easy-to-prepare food is at the heart of this series, as the brightest star in modern Chinese cuisine Ching-He Huang discovers the best in Chinese cooking by drawing on the experiences of top chefs, her family and friends, growers, producers and celebrity enthusiasts. Huang reinvents favourite dishes in a simple, practical manner to make the most of healthy food and top shelf ingredients.