Fish is a very common food in China. Fish in different regions have different cooking methods, such as boiled fish, steamed fish, grilled fish, braised fish, sweet and sour fish and fried fish. Different cooking methods not only reflect local characteristics, but also reflect local history and culture. Recently, three girls from Shanshan traveled to Chaoshan area and tasted a special way to eat fish: fish rice.
If you haven't heard of or eaten fish rice, you may misunderstand that fish rice is a combination of fish and rice, which is actually a misunderstanding. So, what is the real "fish rice"? When traveling in Chaoshan area, like previous trips, Shanshan Sanjiao walked into the local "most lively" place: the vegetable market, where she learned about Chaoshan's "land of fish and rice".
Fish rice is actually fish, cooked with fresh sea water or salt water. Chaoshan people call this kind of fish fish rice, which means "taking fish as a meal" It cooks fish like cooking and eats fish like food, raising "fish" to the same important position as "rice" and expressing the "sea" culture in Chaoshan area. So, what does fish rice look like? When Shanshan Santou visited the local vegetable market in Chaoshan, almost every vegetable market could see stalls selling "fish rice". In front of these stalls, there are small bamboo baskets, the bottom of which is covered with a thin layer of coarse salt, and fish are placed on the salt. There are different fish in different baskets, such as Balang fish, Aconitum, Nage fish, red fish, fish, ancient fish, parrot fish, saury, and some stalls also have shrimp and squid ... The variety is very rich. Look at the fish in the basket carefully. All the fish tails are in the middle, and the fish heads are on the side. They lined up in turn. It looks so beautiful that Shanshan wants to try them.
Chaozhou is in the position of "the corner of the country at the end of the province", which is very remote, with a small land and a large population, and the rice produced in history is insufficient. In the past, rice was very precious in Chaoshan area. However, most Chaoshan people are born by the sea. The local area is rich in seafood, so eating seafood has become a common thing. When a large number of fish are caught ashore, it is not easy to sell them far away. Chaoshan fishermen try to avoid how to keep these fish fresh, so they think of making "fish rice".
At first, fishermen classified the fish after fishing and cooked them directly in seawater, which can be eaten directly as food without seasoning. This method is simple and rude, which preserves the delicious taste of fish to the greatest extent, not only satisfies hunger, but also facilitates storage, thus fish rice is produced. Excess fish and rice can also be shipped to other places to sell and earn income. It can be seen that the status of fish and rice is as important as rice, which is also caused by environmental reasons. With the passage of time, fish rice has gradually become a part of Chaoshan food culture.
So, how is fish rice cooked? Chaoshan people mostly follow the method of "one fresh, two cooked, three dried, four salty and five salty" when dealing with marine fish. Fish rice is treated by "double cooking": step 1, fish are selected, washed with clear water, classified and soaked in salt water for 20 minutes; Step two, put the fish in a special bamboo basket. After each fish is put away, sprinkle a layer of salt on the fish, then put a fish horizontally, sprinkle salt, and put the fish tail in the middle belt, so that the fish soup can penetrate when cooking the fish, so that the fish can be heated evenly. Step 3, put a bamboo basket full of fish on a hanger, sink the hanger into boiling salt water with a hook, boil for 15 minutes, and then pour the salt water in the pot or boiled pure salt water on the fish noodles to remove impurities; Step 4, put the fish rice and bamboo basket on a stainless steel rack in a ventilated place to dry for 4 hours, so that the soup in the bamboo basket can flow out. After air drying, the delicious fish rice is a success.
The traditional fish rice in Chaoshan area is fresh and cheap fish, because the catch of these fish is particularly large and it is not easy to sell, so it can only be made into fish rice and sold to further places. However, with the improvement of people's living standards, some restaurants will make high-grade fish such as Starfish and Napoleon wrasse into fish rice, which greatly enriches the experience of "fish rice".
Fish cooked with sea water or salt water will bring the delicacy of fish to the extreme and form a unique sweetness. With different ways of eating, there will be different tastes; Different people eat the best fish rice in different ways:
First, in order to taste this "freshness", Chaoshan locals will open the fish rice from the middle and eat it directly with the fish in the middle without heating. In their words: fish and rice, fresh words first, is authentic!
The second and more classic way to eat fish rice is as a side dish in rice porridge. A good fish rice, fish scales and fins are complete, the fish is white and firm, the taste is sweet and slightly salty, not salty and not stuttering, and it is not weak with rice porridge.
Third, many foreigners will feel tasteless when they taste fish rice for the first time, and they can't stand the fishy smell of fish rice! At this time, you can dip in soy sauce or puning bean sauce. Chaoshan people like to drink porridge, and a small dish of fish rice Puning bean paste is a classic breakfast in Chaoshan area, which is absolutely authentic Chaoshan flavor!
Fourth, wash the fish rice and fry it in the oil pan before eating. This kind of fish rice is a little burnt on the surface and gives off a unique fragrance. At this time, even people who are afraid of fishy smell will feel the "freshness" of fish and rice.
In hot summer, cook a pot of rice porridge, then take a basket of "fish rice" to the market, and then prepare a pot of wine, so that the family and a group of friends can get together. This is all the beauty of life.