Suan cai yu, sour and spicy poached fish with pickled greens
Chinese Cooking Demystified · ♥ 1.6K likes · 74.2K views · 5 min video
Read about fillet in the BrightCulinary Book
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Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 300 g fish
- water
- 3 tbsp liaojiu
Soak the fillets in a little water with three tablespoons of liaojiu for five minutes to draw out the blood and the fishy smell, then rinse.
Slice the fillets at a very shallow angle, almost horizontally, into the widest thin pieces you can get.
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp white pepper powder
- 1 whole egg white
Marinate the sliced fish with half a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of cornstarch, a teaspoon of white pepper powder and one egg white; mix thoroughly and set aside.
- fish bones and head
- 2 L hot boiled water
Fry the fish bones and head over medium-low about ten minutes until lightly browned.
- 1 slices ginger
- 400 g suancai
Add two litres of hot boiled water and a slice of ginger, bring to a boil, cover and boil lightly over medium-high for thirty minutes to make a quick fish stock, then remove the bones and keep the soup.
- 50 g pickled ginger
- 50 g pickled yishanjiu chilies
- water
Sit the suancai, pickled ginger and pickled chilies in water for five minutes to pull out some salinity.
- 1 inch fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic
Squeeze the suancai out and cut it, the pickled ginger and the chilies into roughly one centimetre slices; mince an inch of fresh ginger and two cloves of garlic.
- 1 tbsp lard
Over medium-high heat melt about a tablespoon of lard, fry the minced garlic and ginger about 30 seconds until fragrant, then add the suancai and fry about three minutes until it wilts and dries out.
- 1 tbsp liaojiu
Add the pickled ginger and chilies, fry 30 seconds, pour a tablespoon of liaojiu over the spatula and around the sides of the wok, fry another 30 seconds, then add the quick fish stock back.
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp sugar
- MSG
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
Cover and simmer three minutes, looking for a yellowish hue and no longer, then season with half a teaspoon salt, half a tablespoon sugar, an optional sprinkle of MSG and a tablespoon of white vinegar, tasting and adjusting.
Move the solids to a serving bowl, bring the liquid to a boil then down to just below a simmer, about egg poaching temperature.
Poach the fish about two minutes, pushing it gently back and forth so it cooks evenly, and transfer it on top once it is no longer pink.
- 4 whole scallions
- 3 cloves garlic
Bring the soup back to a boil and pour it over everything, then scatter about four sliced scallions and three minced garlic cloves on top.
Topping with sizzling oil and Sichuan peppercorns
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 10 g sliced diced chilies
Heat three tablespoons of oil until it just starts to smoke, add a tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorns and 10 g of sliced chilies, take it straight off the heat and pour it over the dish.