Steamed Fish Stew from Demoli

Steamed Fish Stew from Demoli

　　Steamed Fish Stew from Demoli is a specialty dish of Harbin. In the suburbs of Harbin, near the roadside, there is a small village called Demoli. The villagers opened a snack shop by the road to serve travelers stopping for a rest and a meal. A local way of making a warm and hearty dish was to stew tofu, wide rice noodles, pork belly slices, Chinese cabbage, and carp caught from the Songhua River. This traditional method later spread beyond the village and became popular throughout the city. Locals in Harbin say: if visitors from out of town don’t enjoy Western food or northeastern Chinese cuisine, let’s go have some Steamed Fish Stew from Demoli.

　　Preparation: The fish used in Demoli Fish Stew is usually a common carp, though “three-scaled carp” can also be chosen (grass carp is not commonly used). Originally, the dish mainly had four variations: tofu, noodles, Chinese cabbage, and shredded green beans. Nowadays, the most common version is “Fish Stewed with Noodles and Tofu.” Its exact preparation method hasn’t been fully made public, but key ingredients include scallions, tofu, and potato starch noodles. Seasonings consist of soy sauce, white liquor, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, a secret perilla seed oil, natural spring water from Demoli, and it's all simmered over low heat.

　　Demoli Steamed Fish Stew is cooked using spring water from Qinglong Mountain in Demoli, along with more than ten kinds of seasonings, along with large tofu and rice noodles. This dish, invented by people from Fangzheng, is famous across the nation for its rich aroma and reputation.