Cross carp

Let’s talk about the “protagonist” of this soup - crucian carp. It is a freshwater fish with tender and sweet meat (personally it tastes better than tilapia) and is used for braised in brown sauce. It can be eaten, steamed, or made into soup, but because of its thin and numerous bone spurs, it is most commonly used for making soup and has the strongest nourishing effect. Crucian carp has the functions of diluting water, reducing swelling, replenishing qi and strengthening the spleen, detoxifying, and releasing breast milk. Especially for pregnant women, using crucian carp to stew papaya, peanuts, black beans, etc. is a good way to relieve breast deficiency and replenish deficiency, and is of high quality and low price.

There are many varieties of crucian carp, both farmed and wild. When we buy crucian carp for soup at the market, we mainly choose it for its sweet and fresh taste. We usually choose local crucian carp, which some people call "black crucian carp". As the name suggests, local crucian carp has a darker, smaller body and is more like a spindle shape. Compared with black crucian carp, there is "white crucian carp", which is silvery white in color, has a raised back, wider body and large size. It is generally used for braised or steamed. Crucian carp is available throughout the year, but it is most plump from February to April and August to December, so now is the time to taste crucian carp.

1. After soaking, black beans are easy to cook and lose flavor, which is not time-consuming.

2. If you don’t have enough time but want the soup to be white and delicious, you can fry the crucian carp over low heat, pour cold water directly into the pot, and let it boil for ten or twenty minutes to make the fish soup. Very white.

3. Generally, when people slaughter fish, they scrape the scales and gills to remove the intestines, but they do not know to remove the throat teeth (the teeth located in the throat behind the gills) of crucian carp. The muddy smell is very strong, which affects the taste of the soup. It has an umami flavor, so it should be removed when slaughtering crucian carp.

Ingredients for making loach fish soup:

Ingredients: 800g loach fish, 2 pieces of tofu, 200g beef, 50g green onions, 50g mung bean sprouts, 50g mustard greens, 50g taro stems, 50g cabbage, 50g sesame leaves, chili sauce, 5 tablespoons miso, 6 tablespoons clear soybean paste, 1 teaspoon pepper noodles

How to make loach fish soup:

(1 ) Boil meat sauce soup, season with chili sauce, put the whole piece of tofu in, and then add the loach, which will swim into the tofu due to the heat of the soup.

(2) Boil for a while, add ginger and green pepper and add flour.

How to filter after boiling:

(1) Put the beef in water to make soup, remove the meat and add seasonings.

(2) Put the live loach in a bowl and put the salt and pumpkin leaves together and cover it. After 3 minutes, rinse with salted pumpkin leaves.

(3) Put sesame oil in the pot and stir-fry, then pour the broth to boil, then pour it on the sieve and rub it with a wooden spoon. The meat will fall off at the bottom, and the bones and skin will stay on top.

(4) Add clear sauce, chili sauce or miso to the soup, and add pepper and ginger.

(5) Add mung bean sprouts, mustard greens, green onions, and then add seasoned beef and simmer again.

(6) Add whole chili peppers, pounded red chili peppers and pepper powder.

The crucian carp used for soup must not be too small. Generally, 3 taels or so is OK. If it is too small, the flavor will not be too strong. Furthermore, the crucian carp must be fresh, preferably within 4 hours of death. Yes, kill the fish first and wash it clean. Remember to remove all the black film stuck to the belly. That stuff has a bitter taste.

The second is to "extract freshness" when cooking. First, you need to apply some dry starch on the fish. This has two purposes: first, it can keep the integrity of the fish shape when frying the fish, especially the skin, otherwise it will be disappointing if the fish is missing the skin and the meat is missing. The second is to wrap the fish body so that it can be heated evenly. The whole fish will be golden after frying, and some places will not be dirty and some places will be raw. Remember to put some starch into the cut fish layer. The following are the steps:

1. Fry the fish. Keep the pot dry and rub the pot with cracked ginger pieces. The ginger juice is more conducive to keeping the fish skin and pot noodles separated. (Don’t throw away the ginger pieces, we still need them!!) Pour in about 50 grams of clear oil or peanut oil, more is okay. Use a small spoon to scoop a spoonful of lard into the pot. Animal fat is a taboo for beauty lovers. If you can't even tolerate 3-5 grams, then use butter instead. The difference in flavor is not noticeable. The main functions of adding them are to add freshness and thicken the fish soup. You must choose one of the two.

2. After both sides of the fish are fried, pour hot boiling water directly from the thermos into the pot. The amount is about 3/4 of the soup bowl. In short, just a little more than the amount of food is enough. You can decide for yourself.

The key is to use hot water, and add enough at one time. Do not stew the fish soup for half a day and then add more water when the water is boiled down. If so, the fish soup will be greatly reduced, and the fire cannot be used. Set the heat to low and keep the water in the pot boiling so that the soup comes out white. Because using cold water will cause the protein to shrink suddenly, the meat fiber will become old, and it will become difficult to separate the hydrolyzed protein, which is not conducive to stewing the milk soup, and the taste will be greatly compromised. Remember! ! ! !

3. After adding hot water, add the ginger cubes you just used, scallions and about 3-5 grams of sugar. Be sure not to forget the sugar. Don't rush to add salt. Cover the pot and wait until the soup boils over high heat before adding salt. This is also a very important step to enhance the freshness. At this time, you can taste the soup. The main thing is to adjust the saltiness. It is best to make it a little lighter, because the taste will increase after some of the water is boiled away.

4. At this time, turn down the heat, cover the pot and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Remember to flip the fish again in the middle. The fish soup is ready. You can remove the green onion and ginger pieces according to your personal preference. How about it? Now the soup is as thick as milk. Quickly pour it into the soup basin and serve it.

There are four keys to making fresh food here, did you find it right? Add lard or butter, heat water to make soup, add sugar and red dates, and the timing of adding salt. Note: MSG or chicken essence are not welcome here

The third thing is to "taste the freshness" after serving. Many people think that you should eat the food first and then drink the soup. Light soup may be fine, but this is not the way to eat this rich crucian carp soup. If you want to truly appreciate the freshness of the soup, you have to drink it first. You can best enjoy this delicious taste by drinking it while it's hot. Adding rice to make lao rice is also a very particular choice. Because there is meat and fat in the soup, and the fish will have a slight fishy smell that will overwhelm the freshness when the fish is slightly cooled, so it should be eaten hot after serving. Because the stewing time is just right, the fish will be very tender, and the soup and meat will taste very delicious. Drinking soup first will also help you stay in shape by controlling your overall food intake. Nutritious soups are good for your stomach and body. Trust me, you won’t regret adding that little bit of lard.