Steamed Salmon With Savory Black Bean Sauce

• 2 dried wood ear mushrooms
• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, skinned (about 1 inch thick)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 3 tablespoons sake (rice wine)
• 2 tablespoons black bean sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
• 1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced

1. Soak mushrooms in hot water 20 minutes or until soft; drain and cut into thin strips.
2. Cut 3 (3/4-inch) deep lengthwise slits in each fillet. Combine cornstarch, salt, and pepper; sprinkle over fish. Let stand 10 minutes. Stuff mushroom strips and green onions into slits.
3. Place fish in a 9-inch pie plate. Combine sake and the remaining ingredients; pour over fish. Place a bamboo steamer basket in a large wok, and add water to wok to a depth of 1 1/2 inches below basket. Bring the water to a boil. Place pie plate in bottom of steamer basket; cover and cook 8 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
4. Wine note: In this dish, the sweet earthiness of the mushrooms and black bean sauce as well as the flavor of the salmon form a perfect counterpoint to the earthy flavors and silky texture of a good pinot noir. Try Sebastiani pinot noir 2002 (Russian River Valley, California), $23, with its forestlike aromas of earth, dried leaves, and underbrush, and its seductive flavors of dried cherries, mocha, and vanilla. -Karen MacNeil

mushrooms, salmon, cornstarch, salt, ground white pepper, green onions, sake, black bean sauce, fresh garlic, sugar, dark sesame oil, peppers

Taken from www.myrecipes.com/recipe/steamed-salmon-with-savory-black-bean-sauce (may not work)