How can you have congee without rice?
Shunde's beloved fish soup! Was a dish that really messed with my mind for a bit - for a while I just assumed it *was* some sort of congee (Shunde does love its congees), before finding out that there wasn't a lick of rice inside.
0:00 - Shunde's Beloved Fish Soup
0:29 - What's the Essence of Cantonese Food?
2:10 - Recipe Overview
2:54 - What Fish to Use?
3:21 - (1) Pan Fry the Fish
3:46 - (2) Shred the Fish
4:00 - (3) Make the Milky Fish Stock
4:41 - Other Components
5:46 - (4) Make the Soup
6:11 - (5) Season and Thicken
7:17 - How to Eat in the context of a meal?
INGREDIENTS:
For the milky fish stock:
* 1-2 large, flaky fish, ~1kg. In the video I used two small sea bass (海鲈)
* Optional knob of ginger (~1 inch, smashed)
* 1.5 liters of hot, boiled water
This should yield about ~750-1000mL of milky fish stock. To get the base of the soup, we'll supplement that with:
* Water, enough to get to 1500mL total (so, ~500-750mL)
* 8 dried scallops (干贝) soaked in 1 cup (250mL) of hot, boiled water
For the dried scallops, we're using the smaller sort, like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Scallop-Grocery-Gourmet-Scallops/dp/B07TLB1MCX/
If you're using the large ones, use 4-5.
Other components:
* Fuzhu, dried beancurd sticks (腐竹), 15g. Apologies for translating this 'tofu skin' in the video, I can never keep up with the English translations for these tofu products. This stuff:
https://www.amazon.com/ONTRUE-Beancurd-Protein-Non-GMO-Gourmet/dp/B07NW1ZZ7L/
https://www.sayweee.com/en/product/Dried-Beancurd-Stick-6oz/12574
* Mu'er, dried wood ear mushrooms (木耳), 5g.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M46CJKB/
https://www.sayweee.com/en/product/CJ-Dried-Black-Wood-Ear-Mushroom-Fungus/24000
* Water chestnuts (马蹄), 4. Fresh is preferable, canned is ok.
* Luffa Gourd (丝瓜) -or- cucumber, ~5 inches.
* To season: 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/4 tsp MSG (味精), optional 1 tsp fish sauce (鱼露)
* To thicken: 6 tbsp waterchestnut starch (马蹄粉) dissolved in a bit of water
For the starch, you could potentially swap for any sort of root vegetable starch: potato starch, cassava starch, tapioca starch, etc etc. If swapping, don't add in all the starch at one - use half at first, see how it thickens, then add the remaining. Different starches have different characteristics, so you might need a little more or a little less. You can also find water chestnut starch online, it's great for thickening these sorts of soups:
https://www.sayweee.com/en/product/Double-Rings-Water-Cheastnut-Starch-250-g/49559
For the seasoning, also note that me and Steph really like to go heavy on the white pepper. You can also halve or even skip the white pepper, and have it on the table for people to add to taste.
PROCESS
First, start off by soaking your scallops in hot water and dried beancurd sticks & wood ear mushroom in cool water. Let both those soak for at least an hour.
Then, pan fry your fish fillets in a stick pot with ~1 tbsp or so of neutral oil (preferably lard). ~3.5 minutes each side, lid covered to capture the steam. Timing will depend on the size of your fish - cook until a chopstick can easily puncture the fish.
Shred the fish into rice grain sized pieces. Pick it apart to ensure that there are no bones. Keep any skin or bones for your milky fish stock, reserve the shredded fish.
In the same pot as you fried the fillets - don't wash! - go in with another tsp or so of oil/lard and fry the fish bones and heads over a medium high flame. Fry until browned, ~3 minutes, then pour in 1.5L of hot, boiled water. Add back any skin or bones leftover from picking. Bring to a boil, and let it boil away over medium high heat - covered - for 45 minutes.
As the stock's boiling away, julienne your water chestnuts, luffa/cucumber, wood ear and beancurd sticks, etc. Set those aside.
After 45 minutes, strain your stock. Add enough water to the stock to get to 1.5L of liquid total. Add in the dried scallops together with their soaking liquid, and bring it up to a boil. Add in the wood ear, boil for 3 minutes. Add in the beancurd, the fish, and the luffa (if using), boil for another 3 minutes. Season, then thicken by pouring your slurry in a thin stream. Add the water chestnuts and cucumber (if using). Serve.
As always with these intense cultural background pieces, huge thanks to these YouTubers for visuals:
0:30 is from Food Ranger's Cantonese seafood feast:
https://youtu.be/wZz11Y2CAPo
1:20 was from this cool video of a fish farm:
https://youtu.be/DwxaPUTlUZI
1:35 was from this great video of making fish tofu:
https://youtu.be/2Iek4RaJX50
1:51 was from this chef making wild chicken rolls:
https://youtu.be/t2lcvahcOdE
And check out our Patreon if you'd like to support the project!
http://www.patreon.com/ChineseCookingDemystified
Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg
0:00 - Shunde's Beloved Fish Soup
0:29 - What's the Essence of Cantonese Food?
2:10 - Recipe Overview
2:54 - What Fish to Use?
3:21 - (1) Pan Fry the Fish
3:46 - (2) Shred the Fish
4:00 - (3) Make the Milky Fish Stock
4:41 - Other Components
5:46 - (4) Make the Soup
6:11 - (5) Season and Thicken
7:17 - How to Eat in the context of a meal?
INGREDIENTS:
For the milky fish stock:
* 1-2 large, flaky fish, ~1kg. In the video I used two small sea bass (海鲈)
* Optional knob of ginger (~1 inch, smashed)
* 1.5 liters of hot, boiled water
This should yield about ~750-1000mL of milky fish stock. To get the base of the soup, we'll supplement that with:
* Water, enough to get to 1500mL total (so, ~500-750mL)
* 8 dried scallops (干贝) soaked in 1 cup (250mL) of hot, boiled water
For the dried scallops, we're using the smaller sort, like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Scallop-Grocery-Gourmet-Scallops/dp/B07TLB1MCX/
If you're using the large ones, use 4-5.
Other components:
* Fuzhu, dried beancurd sticks (腐竹), 15g. Apologies for translating this 'tofu skin' in the video, I can never keep up with the English translations for these tofu products. This stuff:
https://www.amazon.com/ONTRUE-Beancurd-Protein-Non-GMO-Gourmet/dp/B07NW1ZZ7L/
https://www.sayweee.com/en/product/Dried-Beancurd-Stick-6oz/12574
* Mu'er, dried wood ear mushrooms (木耳), 5g.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M46CJKB/
https://www.sayweee.com/en/product/CJ-Dried-Black-Wood-Ear-Mushroom-Fungus/24000
* Water chestnuts (马蹄), 4. Fresh is preferable, canned is ok.
* Luffa Gourd (丝瓜) -or- cucumber, ~5 inches.
* To season: 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/4 tsp MSG (味精), optional 1 tsp fish sauce (鱼露)
* To thicken: 6 tbsp waterchestnut starch (马蹄粉) dissolved in a bit of water
For the starch, you could potentially swap for any sort of root vegetable starch: potato starch, cassava starch, tapioca starch, etc etc. If swapping, don't add in all the starch at one - use half at first, see how it thickens, then add the remaining. Different starches have different characteristics, so you might need a little more or a little less. You can also find water chestnut starch online, it's great for thickening these sorts of soups:
https://www.sayweee.com/en/product/Double-Rings-Water-Cheastnut-Starch-250-g/49559
For the seasoning, also note that me and Steph really like to go heavy on the white pepper. You can also halve or even skip the white pepper, and have it on the table for people to add to taste.
PROCESS
First, start off by soaking your scallops in hot water and dried beancurd sticks & wood ear mushroom in cool water. Let both those soak for at least an hour.
Then, pan fry your fish fillets in a stick pot with ~1 tbsp or so of neutral oil (preferably lard). ~3.5 minutes each side, lid covered to capture the steam. Timing will depend on the size of your fish - cook until a chopstick can easily puncture the fish.
Shred the fish into rice grain sized pieces. Pick it apart to ensure that there are no bones. Keep any skin or bones for your milky fish stock, reserve the shredded fish.
In the same pot as you fried the fillets - don't wash! - go in with another tsp or so of oil/lard and fry the fish bones and heads over a medium high flame. Fry until browned, ~3 minutes, then pour in 1.5L of hot, boiled water. Add back any skin or bones leftover from picking. Bring to a boil, and let it boil away over medium high heat - covered - for 45 minutes.
As the stock's boiling away, julienne your water chestnuts, luffa/cucumber, wood ear and beancurd sticks, etc. Set those aside.
After 45 minutes, strain your stock. Add enough water to the stock to get to 1.5L of liquid total. Add in the dried scallops together with their soaking liquid, and bring it up to a boil. Add in the wood ear, boil for 3 minutes. Add in the beancurd, the fish, and the luffa (if using), boil for another 3 minutes. Season, then thicken by pouring your slurry in a thin stream. Add the water chestnuts and cucumber (if using). Serve.
As always with these intense cultural background pieces, huge thanks to these YouTubers for visuals:
0:30 is from Food Ranger's Cantonese seafood feast:
https://youtu.be/wZz11Y2CAPo
1:20 was from this cool video of a fish farm:
https://youtu.be/DwxaPUTlUZI
1:35 was from this great video of making fish tofu:
https://youtu.be/2Iek4RaJX50
1:51 was from this chef making wild chicken rolls:
https://youtu.be/t2lcvahcOdE
And check out our Patreon if you'd like to support the project!
http://www.patreon.com/ChineseCookingDemystified
Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg
