White Fish Steamed in Banana Leaf with Soya Beans

I feel like I have a hard time finding fish fillets (or fish mongers that offer to fillet your fish for you) other then salmon, trout, or that really soft white fish that I can't remember the name of.  I love mackerel so I have fish bone tweezers and I try my best to fillet fish and try new fish.

I went to this fish restaurant that sells fish.  There's never anyone, they keep most of the lights out, but we've been curious about this place and we've never been before even though it's a block away from our place and we've been living here for 2 years already.

So we entered this place, La Grotta del Mare, and it looked gloomy and it didn't really smell fresh.  I asked the guy for mackerel but he only had shrimps and 3 types of fish (wtf?).  He almost forced me to take this "loup de mer" saying it was really good, then he weighs it, doesn't even ask me if the price is good, and there I am paying for this small fish almost twice the price of a nice sized mackerel...  I put it in the freezer, because I was stuck with it and I rarely cook white fish.

I did some research and found out "loup de mer" is a kind of bass.  I speak really good French and good English, but most recipes I use are in English so I didn't know what a loup the mer was.

Then I got my cooking book from Luke Nguyen and saw this recipe for white fish!  It's fish fillets, spreaded with a soy beans marinade and topped with glass noodles and chillies, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed!  So unexpectedly delicious, like delicious enough to make it again and again, keep in your recipe book.  I wrote that the amount of glass noodles is adjustable because I like a lot of noodles, but if you use as much as me, you won't see the fish (look at my pictures haha).  So here is my version, adjusted and simplified, of "Barramundi Steamed in Banana Leaves with Soya Beans" from the book "The Food of Vietnam" by Luke Nguyen.

(serves 4 - ingredients on the picture for 2)

Marinade for 300g of white fish fillet (the book uses barramundi, I used bass):

-1tbsp sugar

-2tsp fish sauce

-1tsp sea salt

-1tsp ground black pepper

-2tbsp salty soy beans

-20 to 35g glass noodles, soaked for 5 minutes in hot water, then rinsed in cold water and water pressed out 

-4 banana leaf piece, about 8x10

-1 long red chilli, julienned

-1 to 1 1/2tbsp garlic oil (heat some thinly sliced garlic in some oil on medium until the garlic is fried, strain)

-soy sauce to dip the fish

Combine everything for the marinade and spread it on the flesh side (or one of the sides if you removed the skin) of the fillets.  Sandwich them 2 by two with the marinade inside, and leave them to marinate in the fridge for a couple hours.

Start your steamer on high.  (The author says the water must be boiling energetically so the fish cooks faster and stays firm.)

In the middle of each banana leaf, place a piece of fish (I cut my fillets in two and place them next to each other for a square shape) top with marinade, glass noodles, some garlic oil and some chilli strands.  Fold both sides over the center, then flip the other sides under the package.  Repeat 3 more times.  You can tie the squares with kitchen rope or just arrange them on them on the steamer so they don't unfold while cooking.

Steam for 8-10 minutes.  Open the squares with scissors, serve with soy sauce to dip and jasmine rice and a salad or a vegetable side dish.