Five Willow Whole Fish
A classic Zhejiang fish dish with a glossy ruby-red sauce, succulent tender flesh, and a vibrantly colored fine julienne garnish.
Ingredients
Grass carp (split into two halves, remove fish teeth, make five diagonal cuts)
1 (about 1000 g)
Winter bamboo shoots (blanched and shredded)
25 g
Rehydrated shiitake mushrooms (blanched and shredded)
15 g
Ham (shredded)
25 g
Scallion (shredded)
5 g
Ginger (5 g shredded, 1 g minced)
5 g
Wet starch
25 g
Soy sauce
60 g
Vinegar
40 g
Shaoxing wine
25 g
Sugar
40 g
Instructions
1
Prepare the fish
Clean the fish by splitting it into two halves, remove the fish teeth, and make five diagonal cuts. At the third cut, sever the piece; on the thick side of the male half, score a long diagonal line.
2
Shred the garnishes
Blanch the shiitake mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots. Shred the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, ham, scallion, and 5 g of ginger into uniform fine strips. Mince the remaining 1 g of ginger.
3
Poach the fish
Pour 1000 g of water into a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Place both halves of the fish together in the pot, heads aligned, skin side down (the water should not cover the head, so that the pectoral fins stand up). Cover and when the water returns to a boil, rotate the pot and skim off the foam. Continue poaching for about 3 minutes until just cooked through.
4
Build the sauce base
Leave about 250 g of the cooking liquid in the pot, then add the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and minced ginger.
5
Plate the fish
Lift out the fish and arrange it on a serving plate in the shape of a whole fish, draining off excess liquid.
6
Thicken and pour the sauce
Add the sugar, vinegar, and wet starch to the original pot, stirring with a ladle until thickened into a rich sauce, then pour over the whole fish.
7
Garnish
Arrange the shredded scallion, ham, bamboo shoot, shiitake, and ginger on top of the fish in distinct color and pattern groups, and serve.
