Chapter 179 - 133: Are You Naturally Unsmiling?
"Mr. Fishy, don’t squirm. It’s no use~~" Zhou Momo coaxed in her soft, childish voice, crouching to the side.
"Alright," Comrade Zhou answered. He bent over and whacked the large carp on the head with the back of his knife.
THUD. With a dull thud, the carp that had been thrashing about instantly gave up on life and lay perfectly still.
"Did it just fall asleep like that?" Zhou Momo looked up, staring at Comrade Zhou in shock.
"Yep." Comrade Zhou picked up the big fish that had "fallen asleep" in an instant, then carried the knife and basin toward the river.
Zhou Yan went to prepare the other ingredients. Cooking fish the Sichuan way used a lot of ingredients and oil.
Thankfully, they made most things themselves, so the cost wasn’t too high. Otherwise, just buying the braising ingredients, pickled vegetables, pickled peppers, side dishes, scallions, ginger, cooking wine, and oil would cost nearly as much as the fish.
Zhou Yan searched his mind and found fragments of memories of a master chef cooking, specifically the recipe for braised fish chunks.
Before, he had only remembered the steps without understanding the principles behind them, so he was never able to replicate the dish.
It was the feeling of knowledge flowing through his mind without leaving a trace.
But ever since he mastered the recipe for the perfect Huo Xiang Carp, it felt like one breakthrough had led to a hundred revelations.
’Marinating the fish? Just add some scallions, ginger, and cooking wine. It’s more or less the same for any recipe. Thickening the sauce isn’t hard either. I can handle the light slurry needed for flash-fried pork liver, so for braised fish, it doesn’t really matter if the sauce is a bit thick or thin. As for the braising sauce, I can use Zheng Qiang’s braised fish recipe as a reference and just adjust the amounts based on the size of this fish.’
Comrade Zhou brought back the cleaned fish, and Zhou Yan rinsed it again with well water until it was spotless, with no trace of blood remaining.
Half of a fish’s unpleasant smell comes from blood and the slime on its skin. Once it was washed clean, the fishy odor was instantly reduced by half.
The meat of a wild carp from the Qingyi River was simply superb. Its flesh had a yellowish tint, appearing translucent and firm, and its fishy smell was much fainter than usual.
Once cleaned and cut, the fish still filled half an enamel basin.
"That’s over six pounds. More like six and a half, I’d say," Comrade Zhou said with a smile.
"You’ve got a good eye for it. I believe you," Zhou Yan said with a smile.
He smashed a piece of ginger, cut it into slices, added a handful of scallions, poured in some cooking wine, and sprinkled in a bit of salt to marinate the fish for a while.
Zhao Tieying looked at the basin of fish and said, "That’s a lot of fish. Why don’t you pan-fry some, set a bowl aside, and have Zhao Hong take it to your grandmother to cook herself? She loves fish, and it’s rare to come across a wild carp this big."
"Alright," Zhou Yan nodded.
Braised fish chunks are the kind of dish that makes you eat a lot of rice. A whole basinful was indeed a bit much for five people to finish.
After the fish marinated, he drained the excess liquid, picked out the scallions and ginger, then cracked and beat an egg. He poured the egg into the basin, making sure to coat each piece of fish, then added dry sweet potato starch to form a batter.
This method was actually close to the Tai’an Fish from Tongnan, but he didn’t use as much sweet potato starch, and the fish was cut into larger chunks rather than small nuggets.
Tai’an Fish is a celebrated dish from the Mountain City, recognized as part of its intangible cultural heritage. In his past life, Zhou Yan had used his status as a food blogger to film a heritage master making Tai’an Fish up close. That master had provided a detailed explanation of the process as he cooked.
He had shot and edited the video himself, tweaking it repeatedly during the editing process. As a result, he knew the recipe by heart.
’Back then, I just thought the master chef was incredible. Now, I can actually try to replicate it myself.’
He diced the pickled ginger, pickled peppers, and pickled sour radish. He cut the dried chilies and scallions into sections and got the Sichuan peppercorns and garlic ready. With that, the aromatics were all prepared.
He was just about to start the fire.
Zhou Momo came running over, huffing and puffing as she hugged an armful of kindling. "Brother, let me help you with the fire!"
"Alright." Zhou Yan smiled and took the kindling from her hands. He broke half of it and stuffed it into the stove’s opening, then grabbed a tied bundle of rice straw. He struck a match to light the straw and pushed it into the firebox. The kindling immediately ignited. He then shoved in a log of Chestnut Wood, and just like that, the fire was roaring.
Zhou Momo brought a small stool over for herself, plopped down in front of the stove, and began to chant, "Good little stovey, I’m feeding you little woodsies. You have to burn real good and cook the Mr. Fishy for me to eat, okay~"
Mrs. Zhao and Zhao Hong had arrived a while ago. They stood on either side of the wok, both hoping to learn some advanced fish-cooking techniques.
Just like making Twice-Cooked Pork, knowing how to braise fish was a required course for anyone from Sichuan.
It was hard to say for other dishes, but when it came to cooking fish, every family generally had its own star performer.
Into the wok went two large spoonfuls of lard, followed by two ladles of rapeseed oil.
This step made both Mrs. Zhao and Zhao Hong’s eyes widen.
That much oil was enough for a family’s stir-frying for half a month.
"You don’t need this much oil for braising, but you need more for frying. It helps the fish set quickly so the meat doesn’t get tough from overcooking," Zhou Yan explained. He cranked up the heat, and when the oil was about medium-hot, he slid the fish chunks in.
SZZZZZLE!
The moment the fish chunks hit the oil, they immediately started to sizzle.
"Fry in small batches, and not for too long. Take them out as soon as the surface turns lightly golden and they hold their shape," Zhou Yan instructed. He took a slotted spoon, and once the fish in the wok had firmed up, he swiftly scooped them out. A quick shake of the spoon separated any clinging pieces, and he tipped them into a large, clean basin to wait.
He fried the entire basin of fish in four batches, which now formed a fragrant, heaping pile in the other basin. The air was thick with the savory aroma of fried fish.
"It smells so good!" Zhou Momo abandoned her post at the stove. She scurried over to the wok, stood on her tiptoes to peer inside, and couldn’t help but swallow hard.
"Why don’t we pick a few pieces and fry them again to make a plate of crispy fried fish to snack on?" Mrs. Zhao suggested.
"I love crispy fishy-fish!" The little girl nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright," Zhou Yan said with a smile. He set aside a plateful, and once the oil temperature rose a little higher, he tipped the pieces back into the wok for a second fry.
This time, he didn’t take them out right away, waiting until the chunks were a deep golden brown and the crust was perfectly crispy before scooping them out.