Jingzhou fish cake is a famous dish in Jingzhou, Hubei Province. It is praised as "you can't see the fish when you eat it, the fish has a meaty taste, the meat has fish flavor, it is fragrant and tender, and it melts in the mouth".

Inheritance Jingzhou Fish Cake has a different origin in our family.

My father's great-grandparents were considered wealthy landlords in the local area. Because they were located at the junction of Hunan and Hubei, they had a certain amount of research and accumulation on the culture and specialties of the two provinces.

Since my home is less than 100 kilometers away from Jingzhou, some delicacies from the Jingzhou area were introduced to my home at that time.

As a wealthy family, a plate of Jingzhou fish cakes is the main dish that is only served during Chinese New Year or when there are many distinguished guests.

When it came to my father's generation, they were liberated after many years of war. My grandfather did not receive any assets from his ancestors, but he rebuilt the family on his own.

In the impression of the waiter, his grandfather seemed to be able to do everything. He could be a chef, organizer of weddings and funerals, make sugar, bamboo arts, carpentry, herbal medicine... When it came to his father's generation, the brothers each inherited some of his grandfather's skills, and his father's main specialty was

The direction is catering, so local dishes and snacks have become the pillars of my father's skills.

The earliest Jingzhou fish cakes were slightly different from those produced today.

Before and after liberation, due to the difficult conditions in rural areas, oil and water were often insufficient. During the New Year and holidays, sufficient oil was a symbol of a wealthy family.

Therefore, the original Jingzhou fish cake had a higher content of native pig fat.

After social changes, people's requirements for healthy diets have increased day by day. During his decades of catering career, the old man has gradually adjusted the ratio of various main ingredients. On the basis of ensuring the color, flavor and flavor, he has further improved the healthy ratio of fish cakes.

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Real Ingredients The suitable season for making fish cakes is the cold winter months, and the best ingredients are silver carp and farmhouse pork.

The reservoir in his hometown provides the old man with unique conditions for making Jingzhou fish cakes. The wild silver carp in the reservoir provides the highest quality ingredients for this delicacy.

Every year in the twelfth lunar month of winter, nets are lowered into the reservoir to catch fish. Due to the huge area of ??the reservoir, it takes a whole day to catch fish. When the net is closed, the whole inlet is boiling with excitement.

It is best to use silver carp weighing 5 to 10 kilograms, which has the best meat quality and the most fishy flavor. At the same time, the fish bones are also best separated.

This process requires manual removal by very experienced masters.

Of course, another good condition for this season is that farmers from all over the country slaughter New Year pigs every day. Selecting the right New Year pork as the main ingredient is a very critical factor for Jingzhou fish cakes, and is crucial to the control of taste and production.

important.

The role of pork is to ensure the smoothness and glutinousness of Jingzhou fish cakes and at the same time enhance the meaty aroma of the product. For a good Jingzhou fish cake, the aromas of fish and meat should complement each other.

At the same time, it must also be equipped with corresponding proportions of free-range eggs, salt, homemade starch, etc. to ensure the integrity and taste of the fish cake.

Technique The production process is very simple, but also extremely difficult.

The simplicity lies in the fact that it can be finished in one sentence, that is, chop all the ingredients, mix them thoroughly, and steam them.

The difficulty is that first of all, the particle size of the ingredients must be ensured. If it is too large, it will cause uneven taste separation of fish and meat, and it will be easy to be greasy. If it is too small, it will not be easy to form a perfect taste.

Secondly, the order in which each material is added, the strength of stirring, the feel after mixing, etc. all require great experience to control.

Original control of the fire is the most important thing. The old man still adopts the original method of steaming in a pot on an earthen stove. For ordinary people, the fire in an earthen stove is not easy to control.

But the old man is particularly fond of it. Maybe this is his characteristic.

First of all, the fire can quickly form the Jingzhou fish cake, and at the same time, it can fully melt and penetrate the pork to achieve a perfect blend.

Next, steam over low heat for an hour to allow the fish cakes to become cooked and firm.

At this point, the Jingzhou fish cake is basically completed. Before serving, brush it with native egg yolk to form a layer of tempting golden color on the surface of the fish cake.

After coming out of the pot, it needs to cool naturally for up to four or five hours before it can be cut into pieces and packaged.

This is the old man's family skill - the making process of Jingzhou fish cakes. It is also an important inheritance of the food culture in the Jingchu hinterland in northern Hunan. It is recorded here to express gratitude to the wisdom of our ancestors.