Vinegar-Pepper Fish

Vinegar-Pepper Fish

　　History: Vinegar-Pepper Fish gets its name from being cooked with live Yellow River carp, vinegar, pepper, and chicken broth. It was well-known in Jinan as early as the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. By the mid-Qing period, with the influx of many Shandong restaurants and chefs into Beijing, this dish made its appearance there. However, the ingredients were modified—Shandong used carp, while Beijing used mandarin fish. For nearly a hundred years, “Vinegar-Pepper Fish” has become one of the most famous signature dishes in both Shandong and Beijing.

Features: Made with either mandarin fish or carp. The finished dish has an elegant color, extremely tender fish, rich and flavorful broth, with a slight tangy and spicy taste that is exceptionally delicious.

Preparation: Clean the mandarin fish thoroughly, blanch it in boiling water, then rinse it in cold water to remove the dark outer membrane. Score the fish on one side with a crisscross pattern and on the other side with straight knife cuts. Wash the cilantro, pick it clean, and chop it into 0.6 cm pieces. Finely mince the scallions. Cut another 5 grams of scallions into 3 cm-long fine shreds. Heat a wok, add lard, and heat over high heat. Then add pepper powder, minced scallions, and minced ginger, stir-frying until fragrant. Add chicken broth, cooking wine, ginger juice, salt, and MSG. Meanwhile, place the mandarin fish in another pot of boiling water and blanch for four to five minutes to curl the knife cuts and remove any fishy smell. Then transfer the fish to the broth pot. Once the broth comes to a boil, reduce to low heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Finally, add the scallion shreds, cilantro pieces, and vinegar, then drizzle with sesame oil. (Yantai)