West Lake vinegar fish in "tourist shop"
Netizens who return to Hangzhou for the first time often make a big wish and put the West Lake vinegar fish at the top of the must-eat menu. But over there, your local friends, who know a little about food, sincerely advise you to "farewell, that's all." Or friends who have eaten in a minefield advise you not to eat.
Indeed, we seldom get decent West Lake vinegar fish when we go to Hangzhou! No wonder the news that the vinegar fish in West Lake is still not delicious has been heated by netizens on the Internet. The fish steamed in the fool steamer is covered with some sweet and sour juice, which tastes tasteless and smells like grass. Many netizens have vomited, "The West Lake vinegar fish tastes terrible!" "I will never eat West Lake vinegar fish again when I go to Hangzhou."
Have these netizens ever wondered how the West Lake vinegar fish can become a famous dish in Hangzhou, or even a must, if it really tastes so bad?
The same fish is so different for only two reasons. First, it's really delicious, so countless celebrities are full of praise. Second, it is really difficult to make, so it is difficult for many people to taste good scenery.
Until the West Lake vinegar fish appeared in the Weizi Hall of the West Lake State Guesthouse! It turns out that when you go to the right place, the West Lake vinegar fish can be delicious enough to fly! During this trip, Bian Xiao found himself. She told us that Hangzhou vinegar fish is really delicious, but we haven't been to the right place before.
West Lake vinegar fish, authentic must be grass carp.
Remember, the most authentic West Lake vinegar fish is grass carp. But it is precisely because the grass fishbone is thick enough and cheap enough that vinegar with grass carp is a natural match. A good cook can make cheap grass carp as delicious as crabs, which is one of the criteria for old Hangzhou to judge whether the vinegar fish in West Lake is authentic. At present, there are expensive versions of vinegar fish in the West Lake, such as mandarin fish, bamboo shell fish and even yellow croaker, which have less thorns and slippery meat. Although it tastes delicious, if you don't think the price is too high, businesses will naturally not embarrass themselves.
○ Grass carp is cheap and fishy. Therefore, if you want to eat vinegar fish from the West Lake, you must show your talents. It is best to enclose a special water area in the West Lake as your own fish pond to raise grass carp starved to death. The so-called "starvation" means that the West Lake grass carp, which is a vinegar fish, is sealed in the water, and the fish food is not fed for a day or two, so that it can discharge the impurities in the intestine and remove the earthy smell, which will also make the fish firm. It's easy to serve a distinguished guest once or twice, but it's not easy to be consistent. So if you want to eat vinegar fish from the West Lake, first look around to see if there is a rich backyard and a hungry fish pond. If you are in a shopping mall with an inch of land, it is impossible to starve to death.
○ It is touching that this West Lake vinegar fish in Weizi Hall of West Lake State Guesthouse is made of grass carp. Shen Jun, the manager of catering department, took his team all over the south of the Yangtze River to find ingredients. This fish was shipped to Hangzhou from Hotan Town, Hua Kai.
Hotan township has a simple folk customs so far. Since the Qing dynasty, every household has dug a pond at the door and raised several freshwater fish. The mountain spring in front of the door, with clear water quality, is a cold mountain spring collected from Dashanwu. Because of the low temperature, grass carp should exercise and keep warm all day.
Fish that grow up in this environment are naturally tight; Because it is clear water fish culture, a fish is only half a catty long a year, and each fish has been cultured for more than 2 years.
Hotan town
West Lake vinegar fish needs the real kung fu of traditional chefs.
In fact, Hangzhou people don't cook West Lake vinegar fish at home, and they don't go to restaurants to order this dish. So the West Lake vinegar fish can only be sold in the so-called "tourist hotels", because some tourist hotels have already started to cook this dish, but it is completely unknown whether it is really an old chef in hangzhou dishes.
West Lake vinegar fish needs the real kung fu of the old chef and pays attention to killing them alive. There are seven and a half knives for changing knives, and the grass carp has a thick head. According to these seven and a half knives, cooked fish can be cooked quickly in boiling water, and the ventral fins of cooked fish are tilted up, which feels like flying.
There are two cauldrons and a pot of "fish" on the stove. Among many famous fish in China, the West Lake vinegar fish is the only one that doesn't need a drop of oil.
In another pot, add sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and Jiang Mo to the soup of grilled fish, and then thicken a cup of sauce. West Lake vinegar fish uses a lot of vinegar, which is indispensable in Jiang Mo. Finally, there is a little gimmick to pick the fish's eye. It is to pick out the fish eyes covered with vinegar juice, which is similar to the finishing touch and makes diners feel that the fish is particularly fresh and interesting.
○ Liang Shiqiu wrote vinegar fish in "Ya She Tan Chi". At that time, the vinegar fish set off the sweetness and nature of live fish with a touch of ginger vinegar. But now, because the ingredients are changing, the cooking technology is changing, and the tastes of diners are also changing. Liang Shiqiu probably didn't expect that most of the vinegar fish in the West Lake now use soy sauce and thick sauce.
However, the West Lake vinegar fish in Wei Ziting still has a faint charm of Jiangnan water town.
How to praise a West Lake vinegar fish? As I have already revealed, the fish is tender and smooth, and there is no fishy smell at all, and you can still eat the delicious crab. Having said that, the chef will think, appreciate each other and finally meet someone who knows this fish.
Finally, there are some imperfections. The optimum size of the West Lake vinegar fish is within 1.5 kg to 2 kg. This fish in Wei Ziting is always above 2.5 kilograms, so there is no way. It is not easy for civilized farmers to raise fish. If they raise it to 1.5 Jin and sell it to you, the boss will lose money. The price is 288 yuan, which is certainly expensive among the vinegar fish in the West Lake, but I still think it's worth it.