Ba Fish Liver Soup
This traditional Jiangsu soup is made by simmering the liver and meat of live ba fish together. The rich, tender fish liver floats on the surface of the clear, flavorful broth.
Ingredients
Live ba fish (use the liver and flesh)
500 g
Cooked ham slices (garnish)
15 g
Rendered pork fat (for drizzling)
15 g
Rehydrated shiitake mushroom slices (garnish)
10 g
Cooked spring bamboo shoot slices (garnish)
10 g
Pea shoots (garnish)
5 g
Shaoxing wine (5 g for marinating, 20 g for cooking)
25 g
Fine salt (2 g for marinating, 5 g for cooking)
7 g
MSG
2 g
White pepper powder (for sprinkling over the dish)
2 g
Minced scallion (for marinating)
5 g
Chicken broth
750 g
Instructions
1
Prepare the ba fish
Place the ba fish on a cutting board with the spine facing outward. Hold the edge of the belly skin with your left hand, use a knife to cut open the skin, then push outward to remove the skin. Take out the fish liver (commonly called fish lung), remove the gallbladder, and wash clean. Scoop out the innards, remove the bones, and take off the two fillets of fish flesh. Place in clean water and peel off the membrane, then wash away any blood. Slice the fish flesh and fish liver into thin pieces each, place in a bowl, add 2 g fine salt, minced scallion, and 5 g Shaoxing wine, mix well, and marinate briefly.
2
Make the soup
Place a wok over high heat, add the chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Add the fish slices and fish liver, add 20 g Shaoxing wine and 5 g fine salt, and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam, add the ham slices, bamboo shoot slices, shiitake slices, and pea shoots. Add the MSG, and once it returns to a boil, pour into a soup bowl. Drizzle with a small amount of rendered pork fat, sprinkle with white pepper, and serve immediately.
