How to cook yellow croaker with pickled mustard greens

Braised Yellow Croaker with Pickled Vegetables

1. Thaw the yellow croaker, remove the scales, gills and internal organs, wash and drain, and make three oblique cuts on both sides to make it easier to absorb the flavor.

2 Soak the snow vegetable in cold water for 10 minutes, then wash and drain, and cut into small pieces. Remove the stems of the mushrooms and split them in half. Peel the winter bamboo shoots and cut them into thin slices of 1 inch square.

3 Place 500ml of oil in a non-stick pan and heat it to 80% hot. Coat both sides of the fish with dry starch, then fry until both sides are golden brown. Drain the oil and set aside.

4 Put 30ml of oil in a wok, add scallion segments, ginger slices and garlic cloves and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add dried red pepper, star anise, diced snow vegetable, mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.

5 Then place the yellow croaker on the snow vegetable, add cooking wine, soy sauce and 100ml broth (or water), then add white sugar and chicken essence, simmer for 5 minutes on low heat, finally add water starch to make a thin sauce and drizzle with sesame oil.

The story behind the food

This dish is a combination of two traditional Jiangsu and Zhejiang dishes: yellow croaker in pickled mustard greens soup and braised yellow croaker. The former is fresh and salty, while the latter is fragrant and delicious: the fish skin is crispy, the fish meat is tender, the salty and sweet taste is balanced, and the soup is rich. The taste is from both the north and the west. It is a good dish to invite friends and guests.

Tips

1. The snow vegetable must be soaked and washed to avoid it being too salty.

2. Do not cut too deep on both sides of the fish body to avoid the fish meat breaking into pieces; if the fish is too oily, fry it in a small amount of oil until both sides are golden brown.

3. Dried red peppers should not be added too early to avoid burning.