Liuyang steamed dishes, there are a lot of fish-related dishes, my favorite is hand-torn fish. Hand-torn fish is steamed differently from other fish and tastes special. Hand-torn fish after steaming, half-dry fish meat is easier to taste than the whole wet or dry fish meat, meat more firm. When you eat hand-torn fish, you can slowly savor and chew the taste, feel the toughness and elasticity of the fish meat, and fully satisfy the chewing function of the teeth. The tiny shredded fish meat can also be chewed for a while. The tip of the tongue can lick the salty flavor, chewed shredded fish meat through the throat, feel the obvious smoothness and texture, and that spicy taste of chili powder.

Hand-torn fish is a kind of wild fish from the Dongting Lake area of Hunan province, which is called differently in each place, and is commonly called fish tender or tender fish. The tender fish's mouth and face, scale color, form is different, but there is a characteristic: the length is not more than a few inches, big but two fingers, meat more thorns less, skin color green tender. Tender roe after baking, it becomes fire-roasted fish, fire-roasted fish soaked in warm water, shredded into fish meat, called hand-torn fish. Liuyang hand-torn fish, unlike dry hard fish pieces, salted salted fish. Roasted half-dry half-wet fire-roasted fish outside the yellow inside fresh, both the freshness of live fish and dry fish refreshing and salty fish salty and spicy, complex flavor, very suitable for the Hunan people's tastes, to eat a different flavor.

Roasted tender fish, very skillful, intestines and stomach do not squeeze out, or roasted out of the fire-roasted fish will be "broken". Roasted fish is a fine job, need to be fully careful, will be cleaned, hot pot bottom, coated with a thin layer of tea oil, will be tender fish into the pot, evenly spread. The pan is hot and the oil is warm, the fish turned several times, all around the body is covered with tea oil, no longer sticky pan. Extinguish the open flame, the pot red stove hot, hot steam, to be vapor gradually dissipate, just smell the fish smell, it is half successful. Taking advantage of the residual temperature of the pot stove, and then baked for a while, but also the interval between turning a few times. When the pot cools, the fish are also baked. Each fish is complete as before, not sticky, not rotten, not burnt, not withered, oily and smooth, golden, fish aroma is rich, tantalizing.

Tender fish after baking, only half of the work is completed, to be cooled after the fish have to be smoked. Smoking often grain husks, peanut shells, orange peel, wood chips and other things as fuel, with a steel wire sieve covered in a barrel barrel, slowly smoked by the burning smoke, smoked fish bubbling grease, fish scales bright color.

Do hand-torn fish, to soak the fire-roasted fish in warm water for two and a half hours, it is easy to tear open and tear, first torn into two pieces, and then slowly torn into small pieces, if you steam on the pot. To fry can cut some chili, dry red chili pepper cut into sections, fresh red chili pepper sliced, hot oil burst ginger, garlic rice, and then fried fresh red chili pepper, hand-ripped fish with oil slightly fried, add water and simmer for a while can be out of the pot.

The hand-torn fish steamed bacon is a famous dish, bacon sliced dry, and hand-torn fish together on the steamer, the oil immersed in the fish, fish smoked mixed in the bacon incense, the aroma is more pure, bacon sticky soft, both are not greasy nor dry hard. With the addition of chili powder, the spicy aroma is rich and appetizing.

Eating hand-torn fish, for me, is a kind of lingering memories, but also eating insufficient food.