Fish Soup, Hunan Style

Soups and Congees

Fish Soup, Hunan Style
Ingredients:
1/2 pound fillets of haddock or another white fish
2 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine
1 Tablespoon sesame or vegetable oil 2 yao tai, a fried cruller, sliced
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds, lightly crushed
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
1 scallion, minced
dash ground white pepper
2 teaspoons coarse salt
16 Tablespoons salted rice and mustard greens, optional
2 teaspoons Chinese rice vinegar
8 cups chicken or fish stock
Preparation:
1. Cut fish into two-inch pieces, and cut each of them in half horizontally. Then toss them gently with the rice wine and set aside for ten minutes.
2. Heat oil in a wok or small fry pan and fry the slices of the yao tai on both sides, about one minute on each side, until crisp, then remove them to a large serving bowl. Fry the sesame seeds for one minute and remove them to the same bowl.
3. Next, fry the fish for one minute and remove it to the same bowl, and add the shredded lettuce, scallion, pepper and salt, vinegar, and two tablespoons salted rice and mustard greens, if using them.
4. Bring the vinegar and the chicken stock to a rolling boil. Pour it over all of the ingredients in the bowl, let it rest one to two minutes, toss, then serve.

Flavor and Fortune is a magazine of: