Shashi Fish Cake and Meatball

Shashi Fish Cake and Meatball

　　Fish cake and meatball is a specialty snack from Shashi District, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province. The Shashi fish cake and meatball is praised for its delicate texture—where you taste fish without seeing it, the fish carries the flavor of meat, and the meat has the aroma of fish. It is fragrant, smooth, tender, and melts in your mouth.

　　Legend has it that the making of fish cake originated in the Chu Kingdom. In the capital of Chu, Ji'nan City, there was an inn that specialized in preparing various fish dishes to accompany drinks. One summer day, the innkeeper bought more fish than usual, but business was slow that day, and by evening there was still a lot of fish left. Seeing that the fish were about to go bad as the bones were becoming loose, the innkeeper came up with a quick solution: he removed all the bones, minced the fish meat into a paste, mixed in several eggs, added some bean flour, poured in a bit of liquor to remove the fishy smell, and then made the mixture into a cake which was steamed in a steamer. The next day, the fish cake was cut into pieces, placed in bowls, steamed again, topped with seasonings, and put out for sale—and it became hugely popular. Later, the fish cake was made increasingly refined, using both fish and fatty pork to make the cake, while pork and yam were used to make meatballs. The meatballs were placed at the bottom, the fish cake on top, and finally, sautéed pork belly and kidney slices were added as a topping. Multiple ingredients shared one bowl, commonly known as “mixed stew meatballs.”