I usually packed California Roll made with cooked surimi - pollack fish, or cooked crab meat. Instead Jennifer wanted to be like the other kids and have jelly sandwiches on white bread and salted corn chips. I told her how sad that the other children did not get to have "real food" like she did. That worked for a while and at the time the children would envy her lunches, but it became more and more apparent that she was winning the battle. Jennifer got into a cheeseburger phase, hot dog phase, french fry phase, a spaghetti with meat sauce phase or more accurately, a Parmesan and Romano cheese with spaghetti phase, a cheese and macaroni phase, and, of course, a Ninja Turtle pizza phase (that is, pepperoni pizza).

All of Jennifer's favorite foods were high in fat. Being a busy mom, I just gave up cooking special meals that suited me and ate what she ate in the evenings. It was difficult to swallow at first but pretty soon I became used to the macaroni and cheese. Besides, I got a good hot Chinese lunch at Woo Chee Chong. I chose sleep over conflicts at the dinner table.

I was just glad that she ate something! In the meanwhile, I was walking, swimming, using the bike and Stairmaster to no avail... I still could not get into my size 4 and 6 suits.

Our lives have changed now. Marian's observation reminded me that I did not have to compromise my health, my daughter's health, and my yearning for various exotic Asian dishes. Soon I will be back in my favorite clothes. Jennifer is attending a new school. Her meals are provided for at school, but not with the typical fat-filled or processed foods that one might imagine coming from a school cafeteria. A salad bar, fruits, and hot vegetables are plentiful along with entrees. It is hard to determine which is the entree or main dish as her school uses what I would classify as a more progressive approach to nutrition and dining.

Jennifer has been asking for steamed rice rather than fried rice, and Chinese style steamed fish rather than fish and chips. She will not eat macaroni and cheese because she says it is too full of fat, and told me that I should not buy her any cheese this time around at the market. However, she still loves her butter.

Here is my "Quick and Easy Chinese Steamed Fish for Jennifer" which takes only 5 to 7 minutes to make. (Fat content is only a trace amount.)

• 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
• 4 Tablespoons of water
• Tempeh (fermented soybean cake)
• 2 Rock cod fillets

• Whole fish (sculpin, rock cod or Pacific
  red snapper) – 2 pounds

Light soy sauce
• Sweet red preserved ginger – 1/8 cup
• Sweet white cucumbers – 1/8 cup

• Ginger root – 1/2 cup
• Green onion – 1/2 cup
• Cilantro (Chinese parsley) – 8 pieces

• Peanut oil

Place the whole rock cod on a heavy porcelain or stoneware dish. Use half of the shredded green onions and ginger to fill the cavity of the fish.

Place the dish on a trivet or steaming rack over boiling water in your wok. Be sure the water is boiling. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes. Check fish by using fork or chopstick. The fish should be moist but separate easily from the bone. Do not overcook.

Remove any excess liquid which has condensed onto dish. Garnish fish with the remaining ginger, green onions, sweet red preserved ginger, sweet white cucumber, cilantro, and soy sauce. Heat peanut oil until almost smoking. Carefully pour scalding oil over the entire fish. Serve immediately with white rice. Serves 4 people.

This recipe is an excerpt from Art of Chinese Cooking by Connie Hom.

Connie Hom & Associates, copyright © 1999. Reprinted with permission from Connie Hom & Associates (formerly published in The Jade Dragon, June/July 1993).

Connie Hom is the Food Service Marketing Coordinator for the San Diego City Schools and an accomplished chef and instructor. Well-known for her lively performances on KFMB-TV8 "Sun Up San Diego" and KGTV 10 "Inside San Diego," she has entertained audiences and students for over a decade. Through television, radio and gourmet cooking schools, UCSD, Mesa College, community colleges, charity benefits and at the former Woo Chee Chong stores, Connie Hom has taught thousands of Americans and international audiences how to use exotic Asian ingredients to produce delicious, authentic meals with excellent results.

If you have any easy, tasty Asian recipes to share, please send them to us at P.O. Box 23744, San Diego, CA 92193-3744. E-mail: editor@jadedragon.com. If we use your article, we will send you a Jade Dragon Online t-shirt.

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