Chapter 1466 - 570: Sour, Spicy, and Refreshing Raw Fish—Truly Delicious! A New Side Quest! [Happy New Year]

Chapter 1466: Chapter 570: Sour, Spicy, and Refreshing Raw Fish—Truly Delicious! A New Side Quest! [Happy New Year]

"What is there to choose? Just make both. The fish has meat on both sides, we can make one dish from each side. How about that, old Yuan?"

Lin Xu hadn’t had a chance to speak when Dai Jianli jumped in to mix things up.

Although he had eaten the fresh fish made by Yuan Debiao, he had never tried the method of the Hezhe Clan, so he wanted to experience it. If it wasn’t delicious, then he could try the Han method later.

This way, there is double assurance, not missing out on the enjoyment of good food, how wonderful.

Yuan Debiao shortened with a smile:

"Sure, it’s a great opportunity to showcase the differences between two methods, and let you all truly appreciate the charm of Northeast cuisine culture."

He carried the fish to the sink and stabbed it lightly with a kitchen knife just below the pectoral fin.

Bright red blood immediately gushed out.

This is the heart area of the fish; bleeding from here maximizes the release of blood, making the fish meat fresher and more delicious, enhancing the texture.

When bleeding, you need to press the fish body and let go of the fish tail.

When the tail swings, it can circulate more blood back to the heart, speeding up the bleeding.

Everyone present was familiar with these steps. Yuan Debiao didn’t explain them in detail, he quickly completed the bleeding process, and awaited the fish to stop moving, then used a kitchen knife to scrape off the scales on one side of the fish body, while leaving the other side intact.

"Hezhe Clan eats fresh fish with the scales on the skin, grilling it crispy before eating is quite satisfying. But with the Han people here, generally, they choose to remove the scales, and blanch the skin to mix with the fish meat."

Lin Xu originally thought the differences between the two eating methods would only appear at the end. Unexpectedly, the distinctions are clear this early on.

Grilled fish skin with scales, although quite different from the Han method, reminded him of the aromatic crispy texture of spicy fish scales, Lin Xu believed it was worth a try.

After all, the Hezhe Clan is a fishing and hunting people, experienced in eating fish.

Yuan Debiao scraped off the scales on one side, then cut open the fish belly, removed the internal organs and the black membrane inside the belly, washed it again thoroughly, and then filleted the meat from both sides.

This wild fish has firm meat, looking delicious.

After removing the fillets from both sides, Yuan Debiao plucked out the rib bones and deftly removed the fish skin.

Then he sliced the fish meat into slices about four millimeters thick, and then cut them into square meat shreds of the same size.

"When making fresh fish, the cuts shouldn’t be too fine; otherwise, it loses texture. It’s best to cut the meat shreds a bit thicker, giving them a crispy texture, making them more enjoyable to chew."

With a few tips, Yuan Debiao continued to adjust the knife.

Xie Baomin said to Lin Xu:

"It’s similar to the crispy grass carp that Southern people like to eat, both pursuing a crunchy texture."

All the meat strips were cut and placed in a basin, then soaked in vinegar, Yuan Debiao said:

"This step is called ’shae,’ using vinegar to remove impurities, peculiar smells, and parasites from the fish meat. Of course, this is just a self-deceptive method; in fact, without cooking, parasites cannot be killed."

In the past, when eating fresh fish, people would try to kill the parasites with high-grade liquor, rice wine, mustard, chili peppers, etc., but studies showed these methods were worthless.

The only effect is providing some psychological comfort.

Despite the various risks of eating fresh fish, due to its delicious taste and customs, the habit of eating fresh fish and seafood hasn’t changed.

Famous dishes like Shunde fish sashimi, Chaoshan raw marinated dishes are representative of raw food.

In neighboring Japan, there’s a wider range of raw ingredients. Besides seafood and marine products, some terrestrial animals are also included in sashimi ingredients.

In the West, aside from Beef Tartare and Tatare Deer Meat, only Germany remains persistent in eating raw pork, and it’s said if done properly, the taste is no worse than Beef Tartare.

But among students studying abroad, few are willing to try it.

Xie Baomin said:

"Soaking in vinegar once sort of exaggerates the parasite-killing idea, but it can somewhat enhance the crunchiness of the texture."

The fish meat was soaked sufficiently, and Yuan Debiao began preparing the ingredients for the Han method.

Potato slices, bell pepper slices, onion slices, adding some cabbage, carrot shreds, and finally cutting the de-scaled fish skin into strips.

Next, blanching what needs to be blanched, soaking what needs to be soaked.

Then putting all the ingredients in the refrigerator freezer, using low temperature to chill them, this makes the taste even more refreshing and cool.

After all this, Yuan Debiao divided the scaled fish skin into two halves, marinated it first, then brushed a layer of dry powder paste.

He said:

"In the past, fish skin was grilled, but now it’s changed to deep frying. It makes the fish skin tastier and you can enjoy the crispy texture of the fish scales."

After speaking, he set up the oil pot, heated it, and placed the fish skin into it for deep frying.

During frying, the oil temperature shouldn’t be too high, just fifty percent hot.

Only this way can the fish skin be fried crispy and thoroughly.

As soon as the fish skin is put into the oil pot, it curls up from the frying, soon it slightly expands again, this is caused by the denaturation of gelatin in the fish skin.

When the fish skin is fried properly, take it out and let it cool on the side.

By now the fish meat is almost soaked in vinegar, pour out the vinegar, and rinse the fish in clean water, also put it in the freezer for chilling.

During this time, Yuan Debiao cut some dried chili pepper segments, and fried a small bowl of chili oil:

"Making fresh fish, chili oil is indispensable. This dish is essentially a sour and spicy cold dish, but because the fish meat is fresh enough, it makes it memorable."