Nujiang Fish Sashimi

Nujiang Fish Sashimi

　　Method of making fish sashimi

Ingredients: One or more fish, depending on the number of diners—generally one and a half pounds or more. For multiple people who enjoy it, larger fish are best. I’ve used grass carp weighing over 15 pounds. If using tilapia, be sure to choose wild tilapia from reservoirs, as these are usually smaller in size—you can use multiple. Ginger, garlic whites or scallion whites, coriander, perilla leaves, houttuynia cordata, lemongrass, etc., peanuts, and if you like, you can also add raw papaya. Pure peanut oil (this is very important—the aroma and flavor of the fish sashimi largely depend on the oil used, and no other oil can replace it.), salt, light soy sauce, white sugar, and most importantly: vinegar. Choose fresh rice vinegar, not vinegar essence, not black vinegar. If you can get rice vinegar brewed at a countryside distillery, that’s the best—it also greatly affects the final taste of the dish.

1. First, prepare the fish. Use the back of a knife to firmly strike the area where the head meets the body to stun the fish, then bleed it immediately. To bleed the fish, remove the gills and hang the fish upside down. It is essential to drain all the blood; otherwise, the fish meat will turn red and taste fishy. Once the blood has been fully drained, scale the fish and dry the body thoroughly with a clean disinfectant towel or highly absorbent paper—but do not gut the fish. Remember this.

2. Clean the cutting board and wipe it dry with absorbent paper or a towel. Place the fish flat, make a shallow cut along the spine with a knife to see the direction of the bones, then slice along the bones. Make cuts at the tail and where the head meets the body, slicing about two-thirds of the way to the breastbone to remove a boneless piece of fish meat. Immediately wrap it tightly with absorbent paper (use clean, highly absorbent paper such as straw paper or parchment paper—do not use roll paper as it sheds lint) or a sterilized clean towel, wrapping both sides to absorb moisture from the fish meat. Flip the fish and remove another boneless slice from the other side. Finally, make a cut near the front fin, insert two fingers, and firmly tear off the clean belly meat. Wipe away the dark parts inside the belly with paper and wrap that as well. Throughout this process, be careful not to break the intestines or gallbladder—if either is punctured, the fish meat cannot be used. The fish maw can also be prepared like the fish meat. Set the sliced fish meat aside for about ten minutes or so to let the moisture dry before further handling. 　

3. While waiting for the fish meat to dry, clean the cutting board and dry it. Wash the raw ingredients such as ginger and scallion whites, finely shred the ginger, flatten and then finely slice the scallion whites, and finely chop coriander, perilla leaves, houttuynia cordata, and lemongrass. Fry the peanuts in oil until golden. Mix rice vinegar with minced garlic to make garlic-vinegar sauce; those who like spice can add fresh bird’s eye chilies. The Wuhua style is to place condiments in individual bowls, and then once the fish slices have been soaked briefly in the garlic-vinegar, they are eaten.

4. Slicing the fish meat: Use a sharp knife and a clean, non-linting cutting board. Remove the fish meat from its paper wrap, ensuring no paper bits remain on the meat. Place the skin-side down on the cutting board and slice diagonally into large, very thin slices (about 2mm thick), placing them in a separate dish. The meat from the belly area is thinner and cannot be sliced—instead, cut it into long thin strips. 　

5. Most methods in Wuhua involve soaking the sliced fish meat briefly in the garlic-vinegar mixture before lifting it out, then placing it in a bowl of pure peanut oil. Each person then takes a portion and mixes it with their desired condiments such as peanuts, ginger slices, houttuynia cordata, lemongrass, scallion whites, chilies, etc.

6. Then take a small sip of rice wine to counteract the fishiness—or according to another saying, to kill bacteria.