General Crossing the Bridge

Name: General Crossing the Bridge
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Ingredients: 500 g Black fish (fresh); 20 g Cooked winter bamboo shoots (sliced); 75 g Bok choy hearts (heads trimmed into olive shapes); 15 g Rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms (sliced); 10 g Cooked ham (sliced); 5 g Shrimp roe; 5 g Salt (fine salt); 25 g Shaoxing wine; 25 g Egg white (for coating); 20 g Cornstarch (slurry, for coating and thickening); 750 g Rendered pork fat (150 g actually used); 10 g Scallion (white parts in segments); 5 g Sugar; 2.5 g MSG; 7.5 g Sesame oil; 5 g Vinegar (placed in serving dish first); 25 g Chicken broth; 5 g Ginger

A traditional Jiangsu "one fish, two ways" dish: the stir-fried black fish slices are silky and tender, and the soup simmered from the fish head, bones, and innards is thick, milky, and savory.

1h 15m

Easy

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Ingredients

Black fish (fresh) 500 g

Cooked winter bamboo shoots (sliced) 20 g

Bok choy hearts (heads trimmed into olive shapes) 75 g

Rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms (sliced) 15 g

Cooked ham (sliced) 10 g

Shrimp roe 5 g

Salt (fine salt) 5 g

Shaoxing wine 25 g

Egg white (for coating) 25 g

Cornstarch (slurry, for coating and thickening) 20 g

Rendered pork fat (150 g actually used) 750 g

Scallion (white parts in segments) 10 g

Sugar 5 g

MSG 2.5 g

Sesame oil 7.5 g

Vinegar (placed in serving dish first) 5 g

Chicken broth 25 g

Ginger 5 g

Instructions

Preparing the black fish

Clean the black fish, chop off the head, split it open along the back, remove the innards (reserve the intestines), separate the flesh and slice it into 0.6 cm thick pieces. Place the slices in a bowl, add fine salt, Shaoxing wine, egg white, and cornstarch slurry, and mix well to coat. Soak the intestines in clear water, snip them open with scissors to remove impurities, rub with fine salt to strip away the slime, then rinse clean. Chop the fish bones into pieces and split the head into two halves. Rinse the bok choy hearts and trim the heads into olive shapes.

Stir-frying the fish slices

Place a wok over high heat until hot, add the rendered pork fat and heat to about 40 percent hot (approximately 88 C / 190 F). Add the fish slices and stir until they turn milky white, then remove and drain. Return the wok to the heat, add a little oil, then add the scallion white segments, bamboo shoot slices, and shiitake slices and stir-fry. Add Shaoxing wine, fine salt, sugar, a small amount of chicken broth, and MSG and bring to a boil. Thicken with cornstarch slurry, return the fish slices to the wok, drizzle with sesame oil, flip the wok to plate the dish into a serving plate that has vinegar placed in it first. This completes the stir-fried dish.

Cooking the fish soup

Briefly blanch the fish head, bones, and intestines in boiling water, then remove and rinse. Place them in a wok, add water, Shaoxing wine, scallion, ginger, bamboo shoot slices, and shrimp roe, and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the rendered pork fat and continue cooking until the broth turns milky white. Add the bok choy hearts and shiitake slices, return to a boil, season with fine salt, fish out and discard the scallion and ginger, then ladle into a large soup bowl and top with the sliced cooked ham. This completes the soup dish. Serve with ginger and black vinegar on the side for dipping.