Braised Song Fish Head
Golden in color, richly aromatic, and tenderly silky.
Ingredients
Song fish head (with belly), split into two pieces, gills removed and cleaned
1000 g
Taro, peeled, cut into chunks, deep-fried until cooked
200 g
Diced pork belly
75 g
Garlic cloves, fried until golden
75 g
Fresh shiitake mushrooms, diced
30 g
Diced red bell pepper
10 g
Dry starch, for sprinkling on the fish head
100 g
Lard (uses about 150 g)
1000 g
Fine salt (2.5 g rubbed onto the fish)
to taste
MSG
to taste
Red fermented soybean sauce
to taste
Shaoxing wine
to taste
Sesame oil
to taste
Wet starch, for thickening
to taste
Secondary stock (quantity not specified in original)
to taste
Instructions
1
Step 1
Split the song fish head into two pieces, remove the gills and wash clean. Rub evenly with fine salt (2.5 g), sprinkle with dry starch, and deep-fry in hot oil until golden. Remove and drain.
2
Step 2
Peel the taro and cut into chunks, then deep-fry until cooked; fry the garlic cloves until golden. Stir-fry the diced pork, diced mushrooms, and diced red bell pepper until fragrant, splash with Shaoxing wine, then add fine salt, red fermented soybean sauce, secondary stock, the fish head, and the taro, and braise together. After braising for 10 minutes, add the garlic cloves and braise for another 5 minutes. Remove the fish head and taro and arrange on a serving plate. Add MSG to the original sauce and thicken with starch slurry. Stir in sesame oil and lard until well combined, then drizzle over the fish head to serve.
