How to cook fish in a private pot

Every time you visit friends or colleagues’ homes, you’ll find that they all have one or two specialties. But every time it was my turn, I was always short of money. You look particularly embarrassed like this, don't you? So, for the sake of your dignity, come and learn from me how to make stir-fried fish in my own way.

1. Get a grass carp and ask the fishmonger to kill it for you. When you get back, remove the black film from the fish's belly and rinse it several times with blood water until it is clean.

2.12 Chop off the fish head and tail. Split the fish head into two halves and set aside, but discard the tail and fins.

3.21 Lay the fish flat, hold the fish body with one hand, and use the other hand to hold the knife close to the fish bones and slice the fish meat horizontally. The knife must be sharp enough! Guys, go sharpen your knives first!

4.12 Use the same method to slice the fish on the other side. It will look like this after slicing. Two slices are fish meat, and one slice has fish bones in the middle.

5.21 After removing the fish's spine, there is still a row of fish bones in the fish's belly, which are also sliced ​​off.

6. Here! It’s this small piece in the picture! Similarly, remove the bones from the other half of the fish's belly. At this point, the fish will basically be left with only meat.

7. Now comes the key part! Place the cleaned fish slices flat on the chopping board with the skin facing down. Starting from the tail, cut the first slice using the "slanting knife method" (the knife is inserted at an angle to increase the area of ​​each slice of meat), leaving the skin intact.

8.121 This is what the “butterfly fish fillet” looks like after being cut. Isn’t it beautiful?

9.212 The second piece is cut, which is the so-called "butterfly fish fillet".

10. Slice all the fish slices one by one and put them into a bowl.

11. Chop the fish spine into small pieces.

12. Put the split fish head, fish bones and fish fillets together, add appropriate amount of salt, shredded ginger and cooking wine and marinate for ten minutes to remove the fishy smell. Then strain out the marinade, crack in an egg white and a spoonful of sweet potato starch, mix well and set aside.

13. Prepare side dishes. You can choose tasty and refreshing vegetables according to each family’s preferences, such as root vegetables, vegetables that produce less water and are easy to cook.

14.Wash and cut all the vegetables. (Konjac and stir-fried fish go really well together! Highly recommended.)

15. Pour a little oil into the pan, not too much, and stir-fry the side dishes first. When the oil is 70% hot, add onion, ginger, garlic slices and dried chilies and stir-fry until fragrant.

16.1 The seasoning should not be too much or too complicated, just add a little oyster sauce to enhance the flavor.

17.2 Put the side dishes that are not easy to cook and not easy to absorb the flavor first. For example, fry konjac and mushrooms first. Then add vegetables that are easy to cook, such as bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, celery, onions, etc.

18. A little salt (it seems like I scooped a lot, but actually it’s less than 1/3). Don’t put too much salt, because salt is also needed when marinating fish, and oyster sauce itself is salty.

19. Add a little MSG and stir well. The whole process of stir-frying side dishes should not be too long. Stir-frying quickly over high heat will allow the dishes to be cooked easily, thus preserving the nutrients and vitamins to the greatest extent possible.

20. Boil water in another pot. When the water starts to boil, you can put the fish in. First blanch the fish head and fish bones, then add the fish fillets. Remember to put them in one piece at a time, don't pour them all into the pot at once.

21. Act quickly. After all the fish fillets are in the pot, turn off the heat after a few seconds! The fish fillets are absolutely tender and fresh! The timing must be well controlled. If it is too short, the fish fillets will not be cooked; if it is too long, the fish fillets will be overcooked. After taking out the fish fillets, place them on the fried side dishes.

22. Soak all the spices for sautéing oil: one star anise, a handful of Sichuan peppercorns, a handful of dried chilies, one cardamom, a handful of fennel (essential), 2 or 3 pieces of angelica, and 2 bay leaves in cold water for 10 minutes in advance.

23. Put a clean pot on the fire, pour in a little more oil, when the oil is cold, drain all the moisture from the spices, pour into the pot, turn to low heat and simmer until all the spices are golden in color, crispy in texture, and have a rich aroma. Turn off the heat and remove from the heat!

24. Pour the oil and seasonings on the blanched fish slices. With a "sizzle!" sound, the fragrance will waft across the room...

25. The delicious aroma is already in your nose before you even take a bite, increasing your appetite. The tender and fragrant fish meat, coupled with various flavors of seasonings, makes this stir-fried fish taste smooth, numb, spicy, fresh, fragrant, tender and has a long aftertaste.

After reading the above introduction to private stir-fried fish, you must be eager to try it. So, take advantage of the latest and most complete memory now and go to the kitchen to learn how to make it. Of course, it is impossible for most people to succeed at once. But if you try it repeatedly, you will definitely be able to enjoy the "sweetness" of the delicacy.