Recipe to beat high blood pressure: steamed fish with ginger and sesame

Steaming is unbeatable when it comes to heart-healthy cooking. Since no fat is used in the cooking, these ginger-and-cilantro-scented fillets have the luxury of a dash of aromatic sesame oil added at the end.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

 Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves 4

Fish

• 30 ml (2 tbsp) grated fresh ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) grated lime zest
• 50 g (1/4 c) chopped cilantro
• 4 cod or tilapia fillets, 150 g (5 oz) each
• Salt to taste
• 12 ml (2 1/2 tsp) dark sesame oil

Sauce

• 30 ml (2 tbsp) fresh lime juice
• 125 ml (1/2 c) water
• 5 ml (1 tsp) cornstarch blended with 15 ml (1 tbsp) water
• 50 g (1/4 c) cilantro

1.  Combine ginger, garlic, lime zest and cilantro in small bowl. Lay fillets skinned side up on work surface and sprinkle with salt and cilantro mixture. Fold fillets in half. Drizzle sesame oil over folded fish and place fish on heatproof plate.
2. Place a cake rack in a skillet large enough to hold plate of fish and add water to just below cake rack. Cover and bring to a simmer.
3. Carefully place plate of fish on rack over simmering water. Cover and steam until cooked through, about 5 minutes. With slotted spatula, transfer fish to platter and cover loosely to keep warm.
4.  To make the sauce: Pour cooking liquids from the plate used for steaming into a small pot. Add lime juice and water and bring to a boil. Stir in cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring, until sauce is lightly thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in cilantro. Pass sauce at the table in small serving bowl.

• Fillets of sole or flounder work equally well in place of tilapia.

Steamed fish Italian-style:

1. In place of the ginger, garlic, lime zest and cilantro, make a mixture of chopped garlic, finely diced onion, chopped basil and diced seeded tomato.
2. Fill the tilapia with this mixture.
3. For the sauce in Step 4, add lemon juice instead of lime to the cooking liquids and replace the cilantro with chopped thyme, oregano or basil.

• A single 125-gram (4-ounce) serving of tilapia has 20 grams of protein and less than 1 gram of fat, all of it heart-healthy omega-3 oil. Tilapia is becoming increasingly popular, not only due to its mild taste and sumptuous texture, but also thanks to improved aquafarming techniques.
• The more flavourful you can prepare fish, the greater the chances you'll meet the recommendation of eating fish or seafood twice a week.

Key nutrients: 170 calories, 40 calories from fat, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 27 g protein, 3 g carb, 0 g fibre, 120 mg sodium.

Blood pressure nutrients: 16 mg vitamin C, 50 mg magnesium, 584 mg potassium, 42 mg calcium.

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