Fork-Roasted Stuffed Fish (Char Siu Yu)

Name: Fork-Roasted Stuffed Fish (Char Siu Yu)
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: Fresh live carp (scaled, gills and innards removed, head tip and tail trimmed, scored in ladder-shaped cuts, marinated), about 750 g; 100 g Pork, fat and lean mixed (finely minced, for stir-frying filling); 50 g Ya cai / preserved mustard stems (finely chopped, for stir-frying filling); 15 g Pickled chili peppers (seeds removed, finely chopped, for stir-frying filling); 500 g Pork caul fat (washed and dried, for wrapping the fish); 50 g Lettuce (cut into fine shreds, for garnishing the plate corner); 30 g Cooking wine (for marinating); 10 g Soy sauce (for marinating); 5 g Salt (for marinating); 10 g Ginger; 10 g Scallion; 25 g Lard (for stir-frying filling); 50 g Egg white (mixed with starch paste for coating the caul fat); 30 g Bean starch (mixed with egg white into a paste for coating the caul fat); 15 g Sesame oil (for brushing the caul fat)

Crispy pastry skin with rich, fresh fish flavor — a uniquely distinctive Sichuan dish, also known as 包烧鱼 (wrapped-grilled fish).

1h 20m

Easy

0 favorites

Ingredients

Fresh live carp (scaled, gills and innards removed, head tip and tail trimmed, scored in ladder-shaped cuts, marinated) about 750 g

Pork, fat and lean mixed (finely minced, for stir-frying filling) 100 g

Ya cai / preserved mustard stems (finely chopped, for stir-frying filling) 50 g

Pickled chili peppers (seeds removed, finely chopped, for stir-frying filling) 15 g

Pork caul fat (washed and dried, for wrapping the fish) 500 g

Lettuce (cut into fine shreds, for garnishing the plate corner) 50 g

Cooking wine (for marinating) 30 g

Soy sauce (for marinating) 10 g

Salt (for marinating) 5 g

Ginger 10 g

Scallion 10 g

Lard (for stir-frying filling) 25 g

Egg white (mixed with starch paste for coating the caul fat) 50 g

Bean starch (mixed with egg white into a paste for coating the caul fat) 30 g

Sesame oil (for brushing the caul fat) 15 g

Instructions

Preparing the Carp

Scale the carp, remove the gills, slit open the belly to remove the innards, trim off the head tip and tail tip, and pat the fish dry. Score ladder-shaped cuts on both sides of the body. Combine the cooking wine, soy sauce, salt, ginger, and scallion, mix well, and use this seasoning to marinate the fish for 5 minutes. Remove the fish and pat dry before setting aside for later use.

Making the Filling and Stuffing the Fish

Finely mince the pork, ya cai, and seeded pickled chili peppers. Heat the lard in a wok and stir-fry these together into a filling. Stuff the filling into the fish's belly, then lock the opening closed with bamboo skewers.

Wrapping in Caul Fat and Roasting

Wash the pork caul fat and let it air-dry, then lay it flat on a cutting board. First wrap the fish in one layer of caul fat, then brush the remaining caul fat with the egg-white-and-starch paste and wrap the fish in three or four more layers. Pierce a small fork through the fish from the belly to the back, then hold it over a charcoal fire to roast for about 30 minutes, turning continuously. When the surface of the fish turns golden yellow, remove the fork.

Slicing and Plating

Cut open the caul fat along the fish's back, brush it with sesame oil, and pull out the bamboo chopsticks and skewers. Except for the innermost layer of caul fat, cut the rest into pieces about 6 cm long and 3 cm wide, and arrange them beside the fish. Cut the lettuce into fine shreds and place them at one corner of the plate to finish.