Chaoshan people who eat by the sea have no artificial love for fish. Pay attention to "one fresh, two fat and three times" when eating fish. "At that time" is the season, all the year round and March, which are all good seasons for Chaoshan people to eat fish. The "Song of Famous Fish in South Australia" (excerpt) contains:

Bring fish to see the lights in the first month, and only fake golden dragons in February and spring.

In March, yellow is covered with meat, and in April, Balang is scalless.

Good fish, horse, mackerel and pomfret in May, and sand tip on the battlefield in June.

In July, the red mane wears a red coat, and in August, the red fish is the bride.

A belly cream for red crabs in September, and hairless feet for midges in October.

In November, Mo Dou receives smoke, and in December, lobsters hold combat knives.

However, fish are different: some are fat, some are thin, some are tender, some are tight, some are bony, and some are less prickly. In order to make all kinds of ingredients do their best, Chaoshan people, who are good at reconciling Ding Ding, invented some different cooking methods.

1. In Chaoshan, fish is rice.

Fish rice is a unique practice in Chaoshan area.

wash the fish and soak in light salt water for about 3 minutes. Then put them in bamboo sieves, sprinkle with Shanghai salt, cover the steamer, press stones to prevent the fish from deforming during cooking, and then put a number of bamboo sieves on the hanger and hang them down in the concentrated brine pot for cooking. This process usually takes 15 minutes. Cook the fish, pour it with boiling salt water, and finally let it cool for a few hours, and the raw fish will be cooked into fish rice.

Fish rice is not rice. The reason why it is called this is that the gourmet Mr. Zhang Xinmin has made some textual research:

There are two versions of the name of fish rice: one thinks that the cooked fish rice is placed in baskets, just like a pot of dry rice, and it is fresh and original, salty and moderate, and it is often endless like eating, so it is called fish rice; Another view is that fish rice is related to the life customs of the people. Miao people, also known as house boat, are called "non-grain eaters" in ancient books, that is, they live on marine products such as fish, shrimp and clams, and do not rely on grain such as wheat and millet.

The most common one is the fish rice of Balin [lang5 Wolf]. Baling fish (often written as Balang fish), officially known as blue minnows in Chinese, is a low-cost economic fish. The length of barracuda for fish rice is generally controlled between 15 and 2 cm. The fish's intestines and stomach were not digested in the first half of the night, so the fishmonger should choose the fish caught in the second half of the night. Balin fish rice is compact, salty and appropriate, tastes unpretentious, fresh and sweet, and has a low price. It is an easy-to-get home-cooked delicacy. It can be used as a meal or a dish.

Puning soybean sauce is selected as the dipping dish, which is a kind of sauce produced in Puning area, and is made by natural fermentation of steamed soybeans. The saltiness of salt, the freshness of protein hydrolyzed into amino acids, and the fragrance of soybean itself, * * * isomorphically become the complex and humble taste of soybean paste, which is good at adding flavor and refreshing, and is most suitable for assisting foods that pursue the original flavor, such as white-cut chicken and fish rice.

Fish rice is a delicious food. Traditional fish rice is made by low-priced fish such as scaly fish and blue-and-white fish, and its histidine content is high, which makes it easy to rot. I had to set up a stove on the fishing boat and put it for 3 or 5 days after making fish rice. Nowadays, fish rice has become a unique way of cooking.

2. boiled dragon tongue in bean sauce: when the sauce flavor meets the fish

and the bean sauce is mentioned, it is associated with boiled dragon tongue in bean sauce.

the dragon tongue, also called the dragon goblet, is a kind of flounder. The earliest dictionary in China, Erya, recorded the flounder for the first time: "There is a flounder in the East, and it is no better than it." The so-called "no better than no better" means that the flounder has severe strabismus and needs two bellies to stick together to complement each other before swimming, which is taken for granted.

Because the pronunciation of "tongue" and "eclipse" in Cantonese is similar and unlucky, people in Guangfu call "tongue" "pi", which is the origin of the dragon pi fish.

dragon tongue fish is a kind of rare edible fish with delicate meat, fresh and sweet taste and plenty of meat without thorns. Its elegant sweetness, even the practice of pouring ginger and onion soy sauce after steaming, is too heavy; The white cooking is too weak, the taste is monotonous, and the fishy smell will be highlighted.

This is an excellent opportunity for soybean paste to appear. Its small amount of salt can not only cover up the unpleasant taste, but also show the umami taste. The unique fermented flavor (sauce flavor) is integrated into the boiled soup, which enriches the level of umami flavor-this is a touching joint performance of sauce flavor and fish freshness.

Actually, the method is very simple. Take a pan, add a small layer of water, put the fish in the pan, add shredded ginger to remove the fishy smell, scoop some bean paste, cook it and add celery pieces. Fish with meat quality close to that of dragon tongue, such as pomfret, sand tip, hairtail, etc., are also suitable for boiling in bean paste.

3. Five-bamboo shoot fish: I don't want to be made into a salted fish without dreams

Five-bamboo shoot fish is called Mayou fish in Zhanjiang, or afternoon fish. Its meat is delicate and fat, with high fat content, and it has a special flavor. It is an advanced edible fish on the table. Zhanjiang people will also use it to make salted fish.

Chaoshan people have made use of the miscellaneous salty tribute dishes that are sent to porridge every day, and once again demonstrated their talent in eating this kind of food through simple boiling. Tribute refers to the unique white sugar tribute in Chaoshan, which is quite different from that in Anhui called "ringing dish" by Premier Zhou. It is a kind of "miscellaneous salty" that mustard, white sugar, salt and ginger are put into the altar and fermented for one year. The taste is crisp, the taste is sweet and salty, and there is a faint aroma of Nanjiang.

The function of tribute vegetables is similar to that of bean paste, which plays a role of seasoning and freshness. The difference is that the flavor of tribute vegetables can remove greasy and fishy smell, so that the soft and delicious side of fish will not be covered by oil. Salted plums can also achieve the same effect, so some restaurants also cook five bamboo shoots with salted plums, but the flavor is different. What kind of fish to cook depends on the preferences of diners.

4. Half-boiled mackerel: The meat is rich and delicious

There is a saying in Chaoshan: "Good fish mackerel, pomfret, good dish kale? [ion6], the good play Su six niang. " Kale? It is the flower moss of kale, which is fragrant and tender, and is regarded as the first vegetable by Chaoshan people; Su six niang is a classic of Chaozhou Opera. Horse mackerel and pomfret are regarded as the most delicious seafood by Chaoshan people.

There are generally two kinds of mackerel in Chaoshan, one is blue-spotted mackerel, which means that others are fake. Another common one is Kangshi mackerel, which is also called "bamboo tube" and "earth" in Chaoshan.

mackerel meat is thick and has few thorns, and its fat content is high. The high temperature makes the oil give full play to its aroma. The common practice is to cut a half-inch thick circle, salt it slightly and then dry fry it. However, mackerel fiber is tight, and the meat is more elastic and chewy. If you don't pay attention, the fish will become old and firewood. Moreover, it is rich in fish oil, and then it is fried in oil, and the oil is greasy.

half-boiled mackerel is a good choice. First, cut the onion into sections, slice the ginger, put it in a pan, and smell it with lard. Then put the half-inch thick mackerel into the pot, pour in soy sauce water, half a centimeter deep, cover and medium heat. Soy sauce water can be mixed according to the ratio of soy sauce: water =1:1. When the upward side of the fish is slightly white, it can be turned over. At this time, the fish on the downward side should be caramel. If the color is light, continue to cook, and turn it over after it is completely colored, until the two sides of the fish are caramelized, which is considered to be complete.

firstly, water vapor is used as the heat transfer medium, and the temperature is lower than that of oil, so that fish can better keep fresh and tender, and at the same time, the fish can be cooked evenly inside and outside. Secondly, the fragrance of ginger and onion is forced out by oil, dissolved in oil, and sucked into fish together with soy sauce water. In addition to its own flavor, fish adds the spicy flavor of ginger and onion and the salty flavor of soy sauce.

Thirdly, after heating and evaporation, the soy sauce water, together with the collagen in the fish skin and the previous lard, is concentrated into a thick black and bright soup, which is extremely delicious. Deep fish can't absorb the soy sauce in the pot, and the color is as white as jade. If the taste is not enough, you can use this concentrated soy sauce as a dipping sauce.

5. Steamed pomfret by ancient method

Pomfret with "good fish, horse mackerel and pomfret" generally refers to China pomfret and silver pomfret. Soft fishbone, soft fish, sweet taste, delicious and convenient, it is normal to be loved since ancient times. "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Chang, beauty is also famous for its taste". Its tail is like a swallow's head, its bones are soft and its flesh is white, and its taste is better than that of other fish, which is the description of the ancients.

China pomfret, also known as fighting pomfret, has a thick body, and a large individual can reach five catties. Fish is light and suitable for steaming, which is different from the common steamed fish with ginger and onion sauce, that is, Guangdong steamed fish, which is more complicated.

First, cut a knife obliquely at the neck, the body and the tail of the fish, and put it into a plate. The knife flower at the bottom is stuffed into a spoon, and the knife flower at the top is stuffed with sour plums, so that the fish can be steamed at the same time. Then spread shredded mushrooms, shredded sauerkraut, shredded ginger and fat meat. The most important thing is to spread tomato slices on the thin belly of the fish back to keep out the water vapor, so as to prevent the fish from getting too old. Finally, pour some bone soup and steam for about 5 minutes before serving.

Fat meat provides a smooth taste for delicate fish; Sauerkraut shreds, tomatoes and sour plums have a complex sour flavor, which enriches the taste, softens the fish and relieves boredom and appetizers. Shredded mushrooms are rich in guanylate, which brings different sweetness to pomfret.

The ancient steaming of pomfret mainly uses several sour ingredients skillfully, and highlights the freshness and sweetness with acid, forming a style different from that of steaming with Cantonese soy sauce. However, due to its complexity, it has been eliminated by Cantonese style and basically disappeared in major restaurants in Shantou.

to say that Chaozhou-Shantou cuisine is light is actually the respect of Chaoshan people for the original taste of ingredients. As the saying goes, "adjusting five flavors does not hide its truth", all seasonings, ingredients and cooking techniques are designed to better express ingredients. In Chaoshan, every kind of fish has the most suitable cooking method, and even a certain cooking method is invented only for one kind of fish, which is quite a sense of Confucius' "not eating with its sauce"-no way, who makes us love to eat fish?