Dongpo Inkfish
A classic Sichuan dish with a glossy bright red appearance, crispy skin, and tender, juicy meat. It has a balanced sweet-sour flavor with a subtle spicy kick, and is prepared by deep-frying before being finished with a savory sauce.
Ingredients
Fresh inkfish (cleaned, butterflied, scored, rubbed with salt and Shaoxing wine)
1 (about 750 g)
Sesame oil
50 g
Spicy fermented bean paste (finely chopped)
50 g
Wet cornstarch
50 g
Rendered pork fat
50 g
Chopped scallion
15 g
Scallion white (cut into strips, soaked in cold water)
1
Minced ginger
10 g
Minced garlic
10 g
Vinegar
40 g
Shaoxing wine
15 g
Dry cornstarch
7 g
Salt
1.5 g
Soy sauce
25 g
Cooked vegetable oil (about 150 g consumed)
1500 g
Broth
to taste
Sugar
to taste
Instructions
1
Step 1
Clean the inkfish, butterfly it along the back so the head remains attached, leaving half the tail on each side, and remove the backbone. Make six or seven crosswise cuts on each side of the fish (going about two-thirds of the way into the flesh), then rub salt and Shaoxing wine all over. Cut the scallion whites into 7 cm segments, then into thin strips, and soak in cold water. Finely chop the spicy fermented bean paste.
2
Step 2
Heat a wok over high heat and add the cooked vegetable oil until it is about 80% hot. Coat the entire fish with dry cornstarch. Lift it by the tail and spoon hot oil over the scored cuts. Once the cuts curl and set, lay the fish belly-down into the oil and deep-fry until golden, then remove and arrange on a serving plate.
3
Step 3
In the wok, reserve 50 g of oil and add 50 g of rendered pork fat, then stir-fry scallion, ginger, garlic, and spicy fermented bean paste until fragrant. Add broth, sugar, and soy sauce, thicken with wet cornstarch to make a light sauce, sprinkle in chopped scallion, drizzle in vinegar, add sesame oil, and quickly pour the sauce over the fish. Garnish with the soaked scallion strips and serve.
