Abalone Fish Lip

Abalone Fish Lip

　　Abalone Fish Lip is known for being chewy yet not tough, with a refreshing sour and spicy taste. Authentic fish lips come from the mouths of sharks—the lip skin is soft, thick, crispy, and especially delicious, making it a rare delicacy. However, genuine fish lips are hard to come by.

　　In Fuding’s local cuisine, shark skin (including from white spotted sharks, small spotted sharks, morning sharks, sword sharks, and kingfish sharks, among others) is used as a substitute. Take 200 grams of dried shark skin, soak it in cold water for two to three hours, then remove and place it in hot water to blanch for one hour. Remove, scrape off the sand on the outer layer, wash thoroughly, cut into pieces, and then soak again in cold water until ready to use. Next, slice fresh bamboo shoots into strips, soak and chop shrimp into segments, dice pork belly, and shred ginger. Combine all these ingredients in a hot wok and stir-fry repeatedly until cooked. Pour in two cups of broth, bring to a boil, then add the shark skin, an appropriate amount of salt, monosodium glutamate, and red wine. Then mix a small amount of rice vinegar, soy sauce, and pepper, stir in starch to form a paste, and slowly pour it into the wok while stirring evenly. The dish is then ready to be served.

　　The "fish lip" dish made with shark skin is named after the difficulty in distinguishing the real and fake Baoyu (Jia Baoyu and Zhen Baoyu) in the classic novel “Dream of the Red Chamber.” Hence, it has been poetically named “Abalone Fish Lip.”