Mandarin fish balls in orange segments

Mandarin fish balls in orange segments

　　Hubei is a land of fish and rice, where eating fish has long been a dietary tradition. Over thousands of years of evolution, many ways of preparing fish have been developed, and turning fish meat into fish balls is one of them. The origin of fish balls can be traced back more than two thousand years, as clearly recorded in the "Jingchu Chronicle of Seasons." King Wen of Chu, who lived before 675 BC, once choked on a fish bone while eating fish and immediately had the banquet master executed. Frightened, the chefs dared not serve him whole fish anymore, so they figured out how to remove the bones, minced the fish meat into paste, and made it into fish balls. Lu Yongliang, a young chef at the Grand China Restaurant in Wuchang, built upon the traditional method and shaped the fish balls into petal-like segments. He cooked them with chicken broth, mushrooms, and other ingredients and seasonings, naming them Mandarin fish balls in orange segments—renowned for their excellent color, aroma, taste, and appearance. He presented this dish along with others such as the "Grand Reunion of Mother and Son" at the first National Culinary Masters’ Technical Performance held in Beijing in October 1983, where he was named one of the top ten best chefs in the country. Nowadays, dishes like this are served at restaurants such as the Grand China Restaurant and Yunhe Restaurant. (Wuhan)