Firewood Bundle Fish
A Hunan-style presentation dish in which shredded fish is tied into small bundles resembling tied sheaves of firewood together with shiitake mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, ham, and ginger using garlic chive leaves, then steamed and finished with a thickened sauce. Full-flavored and tender, with a mild heat.
Ingredients
fresh fish meat (cut into 3 cm thick strips)
200 g
hydrated shiitake mushrooms (cut into thin strips)
75 g
winter bamboo shoots (cut into thin strips)
50 g
cooked ham (cut into thin strips)
25 g
garlic green leaves (for binding)
to taste
fresh ginger (cut into thin strips)
25 g
pork fat (for steaming)
50 g
cooking wine (for marinating and steaming)
25 g
chicken fat (for drizzling)
25 g
water starch (for thickening)
50 g
white pepper powder (for seasoning during steaming)
a pinch
salt (for marinating and steaming)
to taste
MSG (for marinating and steaming)
to taste
chicken broth (for steaming)
to taste
scallion (for steaming)
to taste
ginger juice (for marinating and steaming)
to taste
Instructions
1
Cutting and Marinating
Cut the fish meat into 3 cm thick strips and marinate with cooking wine, scallion-ginger juice, salt, and MSG until flavorful. Cut the shiitake mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, ham, and ginger all into thin strips.
2
Bundling and Steaming
Use the garlic green leaves to tie together small bundles of ginger strips, ham strips, shiitake strips, bamboo shoot strips, and fish strips, making a total of 24 bundles. Trim both ends evenly with a knife and arrange them neatly into a bowl. Add chicken broth, salt, MSG, scallion-ginger juice, pork fat, cooking wine, and white pepper powder, then steam in a steamer until cooked through. Arrange neatly; blanch the fish head and tail in water and place them at each end to reconstruct the whole fish shape.
3
Pouring Sauce
Strain the original steaming juices from the fish, pour into a pot and bring to a boil. Thicken with water starch, drizzle with chicken fat, and pour over the fish to serve.
