大錘私房菜026丨浙江歸來，學會了當地人喜歡吃的燒雜魚，最家常的美味！Homestyle Braised Assorted Fish

You really need two or three bowls of rice to go with this. That's what makes it truly satisfying. Hello everyone, I'm Dachui. The new year holidays, it's coming to an end soon. So, what did everyone do during the New Year? Did you travel? Or did you go home to visit family? Or did you stay at home? Scrolling through your phone, sleeping? Some call it "recharging themselves." Or did you gather with friends to play cards? Anyway, I'm someone who enjoys traveling. So, for the past two years, I haven't actually traveled abroad. I've been traveling within the country. During the Spring Festival, I went to Zhejiang. The first stop was Ningbo. Leaving behind the dry cold of the north, to experience the warmth of the south. Ningbo, really has many interesting places. Let me show you some photos, like the Tianyi Pavilion and the landscapes of Dongqian Lake. This city has an ancient and historical feel and at the same time a sense of modern city. Ningbo's waterfront is also very, very beautiful. For me, eating is a very important part of traveling. To try out foods around, look for delicious foods, learn to cook in the local way. Zhejiang is the land of fish and rice, So locals Can't do without fish on the dining table. So today, I'm going to make a home-cooked dish of braised assorted fish for everyone. It's cooked with the most traditional and home-style method from Ningbo. Home-style Braised assorted Fish We'll probably buy some at the market ones that aren't very big Just pick a few kinds of ocean fish Today, I'm preparing several for you One of them is Yellow Croaker The chef has already cleaned it for me in advance But the radish is still dirty You see, the fins of this fish aren't removed Another very important point Can you see this black membrane inside? And the spine of the fish See the blood on top? This thing It's called blood sticking to the bones These are all very strong-smelling substances They must be removed Is there a good way to remove them? Not really Just pick slowly After you pick them off The fishy smell will be greatly reduced Rinse it with water Try to wash off these membranes as much as possible Remove this blood Although the fish is small But handling it must be meticulous To this extent It's almost done Trim off these extra fins Cut them off In the fish market The chef usually guts it for you But sometimes the scales aren't cleaned well Or the fins Aren't removed When you come back You have to do this secondary processing Additionally, for Yellow Croaker There's another place where the fishy smell is concentrated It's this head This piece of skin on top We need to remove it How do we do this With a swift chop Just cut off the head Look at this fish everyone Red Snapper This fish lives on the seabed So you see Fish that usually live in relatively low-profile environments Don't have very good looks Although it's called Red Snapper But it doesn't have the beauty of a maiden The flesh of this fish is extremely delicious By the seaside This fish, they remove its head and then peel off its skin entirely revealing a whole block of flesh inside But today, as we eat at home Let's keep it a bit simpler Just make a single cut and remove its head That's all The flesh is really good This fish Because it's quite thick We'll make a couple of slits on it This is a sardine Sardines have a very large yield in the sea and their flesh is very tasty But one downside is they have quite a few small bones But for adults It's actually fine if you don't remove the bones Little Tarma Fish This one is cleaned up nicely We'll just make a couple of cuts on its surface That'll do This is a small Silver Pomfret I'll just beheading it directly This Silver Pomfret has very fine scales on its surface Like tiny powder You must use a knife to scrape it off This fish Is often eaten locally in Ningbo It's called Tofu Fish You see, its flesh is very tender Even more tender than tofu For this kind of fish We also give its fins a little processing Make a few cuts The flesh is very tender It breaks with a single cut This fish I'll pack it separately in a container Its flesh is too tender Needs to be added later in the cooking pot Alright, now all the fish are prepared Let's put them back on the cutting board And use kitchen paper towels To absorb the moisture Place them underneath And press on top Just dab them dry That's about it Now, let's talk about the seasoning for stir-frying Just lightly crush the garlic A few cloves Peel and cut the ginger into pieces These are spring onions These are shallots Let's cut a few into chunks Then, add in two to three dried chili segments That's all Once the pot is hot, add oil We'll use rapeseed oil This is the most commonly used oil locally When the oil is about 50% hot We'll add some pork belly into the pot Without the skin Just cut it into smaller pieces Use some of the pork belly to stir-fry To render out some fat Now the pork belly has turned slightly golden brown At this point, let's add some lard Why add lard later? Because once lard gets too hot It will start smoking The first step Add the spring onions first The shallots And the ginger We can turn up the heat a bit now Once the spring onions and ginger are slightly browned We can add The fish Except for the Tofu Fish, all other fish can be added now Let's start with the larger ones This is the Tarma Fish The Red Snapper Then the Yellow Croaker And the Silver Pomfret This is the Sardine Now, let's add the garlic and dried chili Pour in some cooking wine Add some hot water Make sure it's hot water Now let's start seasoning Steamed fish soy sauce You'll notice When I cook seafood I really like to use steamed fish soy sauce instead of soy sauce If you don't have steamed fish soy sauce at home You can just use soy sauce Add a bit of dark soy sauce for color Oyster sauce Ground pepper Add more white sugar The taste in Ningbo tends to be sweet We'll add around 20-25 grams Finally, there's one very important thing Zhenjiang vinegar At this point, let's add some more water Basically, let the soup cover the fish Just about covering the fish should be enough Because these fish are quite delicate So try not to use a spoon to flip them Just gently shake the pot instead Now let's cover the lid The stewing process is halfway done At this point, let's add a bit more salt Not too much Around 8 grams should be enough Why do we add seasoning in two batches? The first batch consists of ginger and scallions The second batch includes garlic and chili It's because garlic and chili have a stronger flavor If we add them in the beginning they might overpower the fish's freshness So we add them later At this point, Do you guys still remember the tofu fish I mentioned earlier? I told you to set it aside Our fish is almost ready now This fish here is almost done In just a few minutes you can add the tofu fish Because its flesh is too delicate If you cook it throughout, it will become mushy Slowly add it in It's best to place it to one side Let it stew for a few minutes Once the fish has stewed to this point My friends, we can get ready to serve After filtering out impurities from the soup Let's reduce the liquid This homestyle cooking Isn't really that complicated I just wanted to make it a bit more refined If we're eating at home We can completely skip filtering the soup Just pour it all together Because in this soup Things like the garlic And the pork belly Are actually edible Some people even enjoy eating these Finally, drizzle a bit of vinegar on top Alright The sauce is just about ready Homestyle Braised assorted Fish Ningbo Style Look at me holding this large plate There's no choice The camera is here So I can only offer you all a taste here The color here Is quite bright red The soup here Isn't reduced too much It's still quite soupy Why? Because it's a dish meant to go with rice But today I forgot to make rice So I'll just let you all taste it on its own The fish is so tender Some pieces are difficult to pick up As soon as you try, it falls apart I'll start with a piece of tofu fish It's my favorite Look at this meat It really looks like tofu Dip it in some soup Melts in your mouth It's even more tender than tofu Everyone's enjoying it so much This feeling Locals Just love this kind of fish What does "home-style braised assorted fish" mean? Actually, this is a home-cooked dish Why? Local fishermen or ordinary people Catch whatever fish they can And that day we cook whatever fish we have Or if we find some fresh fish in the market Get two of these And two of those The flavors are also varied And they are all made in a home-style manner The prices are also very affordable The taste is Rich and savory With a hint of sweetness And finally a subtle Hint of vinegar That brings out the freshness of the fish Don't be surprised that I've added these chili peppers. Even though people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang don't eat a lot of chili peppers, the purpose of these peppers is not to fry them too much in oil so their spiciness isn't released, but rather to impart a fragrant flavor that can effectively remove the fishy smell from the fish. See this broth? It's still a bit thick. The trick is in making seafood. You must use lard and pork belly. It's best to have both. This way, the fat and collagen in the pork will make the broth very rich, which makes it delicious. Especially when you mix this broth with rice, it's irresistible, you know? You really need to have two or three bowls of rice to go with this dish. Alright, let's wrap up this episode here. Home-style braised assorted fish, simple and delicious. In the future, when you see any fish in the market, just buy some and try this recipe out. Experience how people in the south of the Yangtze River enjoy fish. And that's it for this episode. Goodbye.