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Text | Dong Keping

Illustration | Zheng Li

The first time I ate West Lake vinegar fish was in the summer of 1986. After the internship, I returned to Beijing from Wenzhou, took a bus to Hangzhou all night, groped for friends in Hangzhou, finally got a place to live, put down my luggage and went to the West Lake. Walking around the West Lake for half a circle, I felt hungry at one o'clock in the afternoon. I just turned to Autumn Moon in Pinghu and saw the building outside. I hesitated for a moment, gritted my teeth and went in. I don't remember how much I spent that day. I originally planned to take a sleeper and took a hard seat for 29 hours to return to Beijing.

This short stay is my first time in Hangzhou, and it is also my first time to eat vinegar fish from West Lake. Later, I went to Hangzhou many times and tried to order this dish several times before. Until 2003, I ate mandarin fish instead of grass carp in Wangzhuang, and I didn't eat it for more than ten years. There is no other reason, but it is not delicious.

The first time is because I am not used to the freshness brought by sweet and sour. For a northerner, the taste is almost fishy. Later, I learned something about delicious food. I no longer judge a dish by my taste habits, but I still can't like the taste of vinegar fish in West Lake. Among them, the vinegar fish in West Lake is getting worse and worse, and the value of grass carp is lower. Although it is a traditional famous dish, it is closely related to Hangzhou and West Lake, but it is really not delicious. Many local friends in Hangzhou said that they would no longer eat vinegar fish from West Lake.

I haven't eaten it before, and all animal fats are delicious; There are too many things to eat now, and people love Jiang Xian far more than grass carp and herring. A few years ago, heavy dishes were popular, and light dishes such as vinegar fish in West Lake were easily overlooked. Eating West Lake vinegar fish in Hangzhou will even be laughed at by Hangzhou people. It is a sad thing to say that traditional famous dishes have fallen into such a state.

Early that morning, I left Nanjing for Hangzhou, got off the train and went to Weizi Hall of West Lake State Guesthouse for dinner. In such a hurry, it is for a West Lake vinegar fish. Chef Dong told me that he made some improvements to the traditional West Lake vinegar fish and gave this dish a new life. Almost all the guests who dine in Wei Zi Hall will order this dish, and the feedback is very good.

I asked Ye Hui master Dong how to improve it. Master Dong said it was very simple, that is, changing fish. Grass carp was used in the past, especially in the West Lake. This kind of fish always has an earthy smell, and it is difficult for traditional sweet and sour juice to cover up this earthy smell. The West Lake vinegar fish in Wei Zi Pavilion is fresh grass carp from the source of civilized Qianjiang River. Grass carp raised alive in clear water has tender meat and no earthy smell of pond fish, so it is naturally delicious. Try it, the fish really has no smell, and it is tender and delicious. Sweet and sour juice and Jiang Mo enhance and sublimate the flavor of fish. This made me feel that the West Lake vinegar fish was really delicious for the first time, and I ate a West Lake vinegar fish cleanly for the first time.

A friend who has been to Beijing recorded the production process that Master Dong said: "The civilized freshwater fish is improved, and the terraced fresh water has no muddy smell. Follow the traditional production method and' raise' fish with water of 80-90 degrees Celsius to avoid cracking of fish skin. It is also necessary to cook the juice with local rice vinegar and Populus euphratica soy sauce and sprinkle with garlic cloves from Jiang Mo, just like eating crabs. "

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