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Fin Fish: Ancient and CurrentFish and Seafood
Fall Volume: 2017 Issue: 24(3) pages: 25 to 29
Paleolithic to present, early Emperors to today’s
ruling class, fine Chinese food always includes fish
with fins on meal laden tables. These swimmers
made it to tables and tummies by line, skiff, or boat, and
more recently by express courier, train, plane, and jet.
Virtually every kind of fish with fins has and continues
to reach the Chinese fresh and raw, cooked in myriad
ways, also salted, dried, pickled, fermented, and more
from earliest times to today. Early fishing boats never set sail without making proper
tributes to Tin Hau, the patron saint of Hong Kong and
further afield fishermen. They have been doing so for
more than five thousand years in China catching many
kinds of fin fish along their more than three thousand
mile coastline. They have done the same in their many
freshwater lakes, canals, ponds, and rivers. Ways and varieties of fish were written
about before Fan Li, a military
strategist in the Late Spring and Autumn
Period (770 - 476 BCE) wrote
China’s first farming/fishing manual.
He and others did pave the way for
China’s extensive and ever-growing
aquatic industry. Ideas came from
things seen in elaborate kitchen murals
such as one in a tomb in Honan
excavated in the early 1960s showing
ten people working in a kitchen, one
holding up a dish of fin fish. There were many items dated before
and after China’s capital was moved to Luoyi, a city we
now call Louyang in the Spring And Autumn period (770
- 476 BCE). Some years later, about 300 BCE, we read
that King Wen had a lake dug so fish could swim freely.
Another item we read says salted fish was wrapped in
rice and left to ferment. These and other items discussed
in late Han times (circa 20 - 220 CE), some appearing
in a book titled: History of the Later Han about
fish as medications saying ‘a patient was seen spitting
out half a gallon of worms mixed with pieces of raw fish’
assuming both were taken together. We know of fin fish located in The Book of Songs, said to
be from the late Zhou Dynasty (11th century BCE to 256
BCE) asking “if you eat fish must it be bream from the
Yellow River,” and of three species of sea bream called
tiao, and probably other fin fish from China’s waterways
including the Yangtze and the Pearl Rivers. Fin fish were used at special meals and special gifts in
early times. One was given to Confucius (551 - 479 BCE)
by the Duke Zhou of Lu honoring the birth of his son.
That was a carp when this sage became a father around
the age of seventy. There are other honorific fish references including one
from the Han Dynasty (202 BCE - 200 CE) written about in
a dictionary known as Shou Wen Jie Zi. It was completed
in 100 CE, and it discusses more than seventy different
species of fin fish. These honorific fish were gifts for
people and their tables, and they did not just come from
these three rivers. Some may have come from one of
China’s four seas, five lakes, and/or its numerous ponds. Some were probably eaten raw as did Confucius who
said he ate ‘refined thin sliced raw fish called kuai. It
may have never been sliced too thin
for him. Thus, raw or prepared, fin
fish were nor new foods now new
gift ideas long before the birth of the
son of this sage born a year after his
marriage. Lots later, poet Su Dong Po in 1080
CE, wrote that “seeing the river’s
broad curves I see her fine fish.” He
and people everywhere hung curtains
to catch them stretched between two
boats and weighted down with iron
hanging to the river bed in paths of
fish. One can read about old and new ways to catch fin fish in
a recent volume titled: A History of the Fishing Industry
in China. In it and thanks to anthropologists and
archeologists. modern gourmets and others can look
back at fish found or caught then eaten; and they can
look at fossilized remains including those of the common
carp, the grass carp, and other fish.
Paleolithic finds near the Upper Cave at Zhoukoudian
near Beijing and others show hundreds of kinds of fin
fish available in early China as they are today. Not only
were whole or parts of fish available, but fish sauce
made from fin fish was used as a major Chinese condiment
for more than three thousand years, especially in
coastal regions. How it was and is made remains basically the same.
It uses natural fermentation, fresh fin fish put in high
concentrations of brine and kept outdoors for two
or three years before being collected as fish sauce.
Nowadays the time is shortened as they incubate the
fish at fifty or sixty degrees Celsius for hours, not years. Actually, there are two types of fermented fish products,
the one mentioned and one a fish paste. Both
were and are popular in rice and other dishes; and both
contain significant amounts of protein and essential
amino acids including lysine. The latter one compensates
for low lysine in rice, and both are good sources
of other minerals. Fin fish contain lots of protein, more than milk, eggs, or
beef, and are readily digested and of good biologic value.
Their oils are rich sources of vitamins A and D, have
considerable iodine, fluorine, and phosphorus, and if
small and their bones are consumed, they provide lots
of calcium, too. Some worry that there are good fish and bad fish.
The latter can have high amounts of mercury, PCBs,
and other deleterious items., but most have healthy
fats reducing risks if not too much is consumed.
Professionals say two meals a week will do, preferably
not deep fried when cooked. They recommend herring,
salmon, sardines, and swordfish, among other sources.
Some of them worry about tuna as there are some from
places that can also have lots of mercury with their
many omega-3 fatty acids. The Chinese classify all fin fish as nutritious and
valuable food. They believe people should eat lots as
increased fish consumption is linked to lower risk of
heart problems, reduced risk of stroke, and reduced
mood disorders and depression. That said, here are some fin fish recipes to include as
you enjoy greater consumption of them; and as Emperor
Kangxi (1662 - 1722) wisely said, “We ate fish kept
fresh on ice, yellow croaker wrapped in lotus leaves,
snow white shad stuck on willow twigs, and others
from boats of fish vendors everywhere.” Note a typical
fish in tomato sauce shown on page 27. Raw Fish Chinese Style |
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Ingredients:
½ pound firm white fish, very thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons hot peanut oil, ½ tablespoon set aside
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder, mixed with set aside peanut oil
½ teaspoon Chinese white vinegar
Preparation:
1. Carefully dry every fish slice.
2. Mix set aside peanut oil with the mustard powder
and the vinegar and brush this on one side of each
slice, and plate in overlapping slices in a design on
a small platter. Refrigerate covered until very cold
(about one or two hours), then serve.
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Steamed Fish |
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Ingredients:
1½ ponds fish fillets, cut across in two-inch pieces
2 Tablespoons preserved dried turnip, minced
2 teaspoons salted black beans, mashed
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons thin soy sauce
1 slice fresh ginger, minced
1 small scallion, minced
Preparation:
1. Put fish in large heat-proof bowl.
2. Mix minced turnip, black beans, salt, sesame oil, soy
sauce, and the minced ginger and scallion and pour into
the bowl with the pieces of fish and gently toss just one
time, then steam for twenty minutes, put this bowl on a
plate, and serve.
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Zhehiang Fish Ball and Water Shield Soup |
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Ingredients:
1/3 pound any white fin fish, minced
1 square firm bean curd, minced
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 pound water shield, fresh or bottled and drained, and cut in one-inch pieces
2 quarts fish or chicken stock
garnish of minced cooked ham, and fresh coarsely chopped cilantro, and/or other greens
Preparation:
1. Rinse and dry fish, and mince it with bean curd and
salt. Squeeze this together and make one-inch balls.
2. Bring half the stock to a simmer, and add a few fish
balls at a time. After eight minutes, remove them with
a slotted spoon and set them in a bowl, cover, and
refrigerate.
3. When ready to serve the soup, put stock, fish balls,
and water shield pieces into a pot and bring to the boil
for three or four minutes. Then put them into a preheated
soup tureen or pre-heated individual bowls, add
garnish, and serve.
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Carp With Hot Bean Sauce |
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Ingredients:
1 two-pound fresh carp scaled, guts and gills discarded
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup chicken or fish stock
1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 Tablespoon hot bean sauce
1 Tablespoon fermented rice
½ teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Chinese white vinegar
1 teaspoon Chinese Shao Xing rice wine
1 Tablespoon cornstarch with like amount of cold water
1 scallion. coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons sesame oil
Preparation:
1. Make three parallel cuts in the flesh on each side of
the fish down to close to the center bone.
2. Heat wok, add the oil, then in half minute, add and
stir-fry the ginger and garlic, and in one minute, add the
bean sauce and the fermented rice and stir for another
one minute then add the fish and the stock and reduce
the heat to a simmer and cook it for five minutes. Turn
the fish over carefully with chopsticks and simmer for
another five minutes.
3. Stir the cornstarch mixture and pour this over the carp
and in one minute put the fish on a pre-heated platter
and garnish it with the scallion pieces. Next, pour the
sesame oil over the fish and serve.
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Fin Fish Tails |
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Ingredients:
2 fish tails, scales discarded, each cut in half the long way, discarding the bones
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and smashed
5 fresh whole ginger slices
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon Chinese rice wine
2 teaspoons of cornstarch mixed with one Tablespoon cold water
½ teaspoon Chinese white vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 Tablespoons thin soy sauce
1 scallion cut into one-inch pieces
Preparation:
1. Heat wok, add the vegetable oil, then brown the garlic
and ginger pieces for one minute.
2. Next, add fish tailpieces, skin side down and fry for
one minute, then add the soy sauce, sugar, and the rice
wine, cover, and simmer ten minutes.
3. Uncover, add the cornstarch mixture after just stirring
it, then add the vinegar, sesame oil, and the soy sauce,
and stir gently for one minute.
4. Put scallions on top of the fish tail pieces, put fish tail
and the sauce on a pre-heated platter, and serve.
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Fish-Stuffed Bean Cakes |
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Ingredients:
½ pound skinless and boneless fish fillets
½ pound peeled shrimp, veins discarded. minced
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 egg white
7 half-pound firm bean cakes, each cut on the diagonal, making a pocket on their cut side
1 to 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup vegetable oil
Preparation:
1. Mash fish fillets, and mix them with the minced
shrimp, salt, and the egg white. Divide this into fourteen
batches and make a flattened ball with each batch.
2. Stuff each triangle with the flattened fish and gently
flatten them a bit more being careful not to break
the bean curd triangle, and dip the long edge in the
cornstarch shaking off any excess.
3. Heat oil in a wok or deep pan, and fry a few of the
triangles until light tan, then drain them on paper
towels and fry some more until all are fried.
4. Put them on a pre-heated platter, and serve.
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Sea Bass With Hoisin Sauce |
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Ingredients:
1 whole sea bass, scales, guts, and gills discarded
3 Tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 Tablespoon hot chili oil
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon minced fermented black beans
1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed with the same amount of cold water
1 cup angle-sliced snow peas, strings discarded
Preparation:
1. Dry fish inside and out.
2. Mix the next six ingredients (soy sauce through ginger)
together and marinate the sea bass for two hours in it
covered, in the refrigerator.
3. Put fish and the marinade in a heat-proof bowl or
platter with a one-inch or greater edge, cover with
foil with holes pieced on the top side ten times with a
fork, then steam this fish over boiling water for twenty
minutes.
4. While the fish is steaming, boil snow peas for three
minutes, drain, and keep them warm in a hot oven.
5. Uncover, and serve on this or another clean preheated
platter, surrounding the fish with the cooked
snow peas.
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Sichuan Dry-Cooked Fin Fish |
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Ingredients:
2 pounds whole fin fish, scales, gills, guts discarded, rinsed and dried with paper towels
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine
1 cup vegetable oil
1 dried Sichuan pickled pepper, seeds discarded, pepper slivered
3 Tablespoons hot soybean paste
5 scallions, white part slivered, one set aside
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
2large cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 cup fish or chicken stock
1 Tablespoon cornstarch, optional
Preparation:
1. Rub salt and wine on the fish skin and its cavity, and
set aside for ten minutes.
2. Heat wok, add the oil, and deep-fry the fish on each
side until the skin shrinks, about one minute per side,
then remove the fish to a plate, and half the remaining
oil to a small bowl.
3. Add the Sichuan pickled pepper and all the prepared
soybean paste, scallion, ginger, and garlic pieces to the
remaining oil in the wok and stir for one minute or until
the oil becomes red, then add the stock and bring to a
boil.
4. Return the fish, reduce the heat to a low boil and cook
it ladling the stock over the fish for ten minutes, adding
the cornstarch mixed with one tablespoon cold water,
if desired, until somewhat thickened, about another
minute.
5. Remove the fish to a platter, pour any remaining sauce
over, sprinkle the set aside scallion slivers, and serve.
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Fish, Greens, and Garlic |
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Ingredients:
1 pound fin fish fillet pieces, rinsed and dried with paper towels
1 egg. Beaten well
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup coarsely chopped Chinese greens (such as bok cai and/or silk squash)
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
5 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and sliced
½ cup chicken or vegetable stock
2 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon water chestnut flour
Preparation:
1. Dip fish fillets in egg, then coat them with cornstarch,
and refrigerate them in a single layer on a plate for one
hour.
2. Blanched the greens in two cups of boiling water,
drain, and set them aside.
3. Heat a wok or fry pan, add the vegetable oil and
fry the fish fillets, one side at a time, until crisp and
almost done, then remove them to a pre-heated platter
covered with paper-towels.
4. Add the garlic slices to the remaining oil in the pan
and fry for one minute, then add the stock and greens,
and stir-fry for one minute and take them out with a
slotted spoon putting them on a pre-heated platter,
and move the fish fillets to this platter.
5. Mix sesame oil, ground pepper, sugar, water chestnut
flour, and two tablespoons cold water and put this in a
very hot wok, stir once, and let it come to a boil while
stirring until it thickens, then pour it over the fish and
greens, and serve.
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Cod Fish Fillets With Bitter Melons |
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Ingredients:
2 large cod fillets, scales and skin removed and discarded
½ cup vegetable oil
3 slices fresh ginger, slivered
3 cloves fresh garlic, mashed
½ pound bitter melon, peeled, seeded, and cut in three-inch chunks
1 teaspoon thin soy sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with the same amount of cold water
Preparation:
1. Mix fish, egg and cornstarch.
2. Heat a wok or fry pan, add the oil, and fry the fish
fillets one each side until golden, then remove them to a
pre-heated platter.
3. Add the ginger and the garlic and stir-fry for one minute,
then add he pieces of bitter melon and stir-fry them for
two minutes before adding one cup of boiling water and
simmer for three minutes, then return the fish fillets and
all other ingredients to the wok or pan and simmer for
two minutes, then serve.
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Beef and Fish |
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Ingredients:
2 teaspoons rendered chicken fat
1 thin slice fresh ginger, minced
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons dark soy sauce
½ pound flank steak, sliced thinly, then cut into one-inch strips
½ pound thin slices of boneless and skinless fish fillets, cut into one-inch strips
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup vegetable oil
2 scallions, cut lengthwise in half, then into one-inch pieces
Preparation:
1. Heat wok, then add chicken fat, and stir-fry the ginger
and garlic for half minute, then stir in the brown sugar
and soy sauce.
2. Mix beef and fish strips with the cornstarch, then
add to the wok and stir-fry until the meat is no longer
ping and no longer than two minutes, then set aside in a
strainer over a bowl.
3. Heat a clean wok, add the vegetable oil, then add the
set aside the drained beef and fish, and stir in the soy
sauce mixture and toss well before adding the scallion
pieces, and stirring two or three times then transferring
to a pre-heated bowl, and serve.
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Flounder Garlic and Conpoy |
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Ingredients:
1 lotus leaf, soaked for twenty minutes in warm water
1 dried scallop (conpoy) soaked until soft, then hand-torn into thin shreds
1 pound boneless skinless flounder dusted with one Tablespoon cornstarch
1 scallion, shredded or angle sliced
2 Tablespoons peeled minced garlic
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 Tablespoon each thin and dark soy sauce
Preparation:
1. Line a bamboo steamer basket with the soaked lotus
leaf.
2. Add the shredded conpoy, then the cornstarch-dusted
fish fillets, the shredded scallion, and minced garlic and
the salt. Sprinkle with both soy sauces, and close the
lotus leaf over and around the fish.
3. Put over boiling water and steam covered for ten
minutes, remove to a platter, then serve.
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Fish in Lettuce Wrap |
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Ingredients:
1 pound minced boneless and skinless white-flesh fish
1 Tablespoon Chinese rice wine
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoons thin soy sauce
1½ Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
8 ounces drained canned water chestnuts, sliced thinly, each cut in quarters
1 small onion quartered then each quarter sliced thinly salt and ground black pepper, to taste
10 whole leaves butter, bibb, or another soft lettuce
Preparation:
1. Mix fish, rice wine, hoisin and soy sauces, and the
cornstarch.
2. Heat a wok, add the vegetable oil, and stir-fry the
garlic and ginger for one minute, then add the fish
mixture and stir-fry stirring gently two minutes, then
put into a strainer over a bowl.
3. Now add the water chestnut and onion pieces to
the wok and the salt and pepper and stir-fry for two
minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon to the bowl
with the fish mixture.
4. Put a heaping tablespoon (about one-tenth of the fish
and vegetable mixture) on to a lettuce leaf, fold in the
ends and roll the leaf closed sitting it on the end of the
lettuce leaf on a pre-heated serving platter. Repeat until
all are rolled, then serve them immediately.
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