Pickled Chinese cabbage Fish is a delicious Sichuan dish. It tastes hot and sour, bright and nutritious. If you want to taste authentic pickled Chinese cabbage fish, you can try this dish at restaurants in Sichuan or restaurants with local specialties. I believe it will bring you many surprises.
Ingredients for pickled sauerkraut fish
| Grass carp | 800g |
| Salt | 6g |
| Pepper powder | 8g |
| Cooking wine | 20g |
| Egg | one |
| Starch | 3g |
| Sauerkraut | 200g |
| Green onion | 7g |
| Ginger | 6g |
| Sichuan Pepper | 10g |
| Dried chilli | 20g |
| White sesame seed | 5g |
| Essence of chicken | 2g |
| Sugar | 3g |
| Scallion | 5g |
Steps:
1.Prepare the ingredients. Clean the grass carp, weighing about 800 grams. Starting from the tail, cut along the backbone and open the fish in half. Remove the other half of the fish and dice the fish bone into small sections. Open the fish head in half and clean it, then put it in a bowl. Remove the fish bone and clean it several times in water to remove impurities. Set aside for later use.
2.Clean and wring out the fish fillets. Place them in a bowl and add 3 grams of salt, 2 grams of pepper powder, and 10 grams of cooking wine. Mix well with your hands. Add an egg white and mix quickly. Add a little cornstarch and continue to mix and coat with a shaker. Let it sit for 10 minutes to marinate. The egg white will quickly solidify, sealing the moisture of the fish, while the cornstarch forms a protective layer on the outside of the fish, enhancing moisture retention, making the fish meat smoother and more tender.
3.While marinating, prepare the supporting vegetables. Sauerkraut package, cut into small sections, the root is thicker, cut a little thin, put into the pot set aside. Cut a large white radish into sections, slice a little ginger, and hold 10 grams of sichuan pepper and 15 grams of dried chilies. Prepare also a seasoning using some ground garlic, 5 grams of ground chilies, and a little white sesame seeds.
4.Prepare a pot of water and bring it to a boil. Blanch the sliced sauerkraut to remove impurities and disinfect it. When the water boils, remove the sauerkraut and set it aside.
5.Heat a pan with oil and add the sliced onions, ginger, and sichuan pepper. Lightly stir-fry with a spatula. These seasonings will enhance the aroma and flavor of the dish. Continue to stir-fry until the onions, ginger, and sichuan pepper are fragrant. Add the sliced dried chilies and quickly add the blanched sour cabbage, stirring well until the sauerkraut is fragrant. Transfer to a bowl for later use.
6.Heat a pan with oil again and add the cleaned fish bone, adding 5 grams of cooking wine to remove the fishy smell. Stir-fry with a spatula to prevent sticking to the pan. Fry for a while longer to release the protein’s brown material through heat exposure. When done, add boiling water and blanched sour cabbage. Season with 5 grams of cooking wine, 3 grams of salt, 2 grams of essence of chicken, 3 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of pepper powder. Stir well to dissolve the seasonings and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer the fish bone and sauerkraut to a bowl.
7.Heat another pan with water again and bring it to a boil, then add in the fish fillets that have been coated with starch beforehand. Boil for 20 seconds at high heat, then remove the fish fillets and put them in the bowl with the other ingredients. Boil the soup again and pour it over the fish fillets carefully without mixing them up too much.
8.Stir-fry some oil again at high heat. Add in the ground garlic, ground chilies, and white sesame seeds for a few seconds before pouring them over the sauerkraut fish on top. This will instantly stimulate the aroma of the dish without making it too greasy. Sprinkle some green onion on top for decoration if desired. The delicious pickled Chinese cabbage fish is now ready to serve!
Tips
1.The fish must be fresh, with the blood cleaned out during slaughtering. Remove the fish teeth and the gray-black membrane in the stomach, which have strong fishy smell.
2.When cutting the fish into slices, they should not be too thin or too thick. If they are too thin, the meat will be easily overcooked later on, while if they are too thick, it will be difficult to season. Additionally, the fish meat and bone should be separated.
3.Before pickle the fish, the surface mucus should be cleaned thoroughly, because it has a strong fishy smell and can make the fish meat difficult to season.
In addition to good taste, pickled Chinese cabbage fish also has rich nutritional value. Fish meat is rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, which help improve immunity and promote good health. Pickled Chinese cabbage and pickled pepper powders are rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber, which can help promote gastrointestinal motility and enhance immunity.