Oil-Burst Fish with Celery (Yu-Qin)

Name: Oil-Burst Fish with Celery (Yu-Qin)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 500 g whole fish fillet; 50 g fatty pork (minced into a fine paste); 25 g minced chicken; 25 g minced cooked ham; 25 g minced dried shiitake mushroom; 100 g minced celery; 25 g egg white; 5 g fine salt; 15 g Shaoxing wine; 50 g starch (some used as wet starch); 100 g clear broth; 150 g rendered lard; 15 g scallion (minced); 15 g ginger (minced); 10 g garlic (minced); 20 g Shaoxing wine

A Shandong (Lu) cuisine specialty: the fish fillet is scored with a cross-hatch pattern, cut into pieces, coated in a chicken-and-pork mince paste, deep-fried, then returned to the wok and finished with a cornstarch slurry. The finished dish is bright and glossy, with the sauce clinging to the fish in a sheen of oil.

45 min

Easy

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Ingredients

whole fish fillet 500 g

fatty pork (minced into a fine paste) 50 g

minced chicken 25 g

minced cooked ham 25 g

minced dried shiitake mushroom 25 g

minced celery 100 g

egg white 25 g

fine salt 5 g

Shaoxing wine 15 g

starch (some used as wet starch) 50 g

clear broth 100 g

rendered lard 150 g

scallion (minced) 15 g

ginger (minced) 15 g

garlic (minced) 10 g

Shaoxing wine 20 g

Instructions

Prepare the fish

Rinse the fish fillet and lay it skin-side down. Score the flesh with a straight knife in a cross-hatch pattern at 0.5 cm intervals, then cut it on the diagonal into pieces about 1.5 cm wide and 3.5 cm long. Set aside.

Make the fish-celery mixture

Mince the fatty pork into a fine paste and combine it with the minced chicken in a bowl. Add the egg white, fine salt, Shaoxing wine, wet starch, minced ham, minced shiitake, and minced celery, then stir until evenly blended. Fold in the fish pieces so each piece is coated with the paste, forming the "fish-celery" (yu-qin) mixture.

Mix the sauce

In a small bowl, whisk together the clear broth, wet starch, Shaoxing wine, and fine salt to make the sauce. Set aside.

Deep-fry

Pour the lard into a wok and heat over medium heat until it reaches about 60% hot (roughly 132 °C). Slip the fish-celery pieces into the oil one by one and fry until they turn pale yellow and are cooked through. Remove and drain off excess oil.

Finish the dish

Leave a thin layer of oil in the wok. Add the minced scallion, ginger, and garlic and stir-fry briefly until fragrant. Pour in the prepared sauce, add the fried fish-celery pieces, toss gently so the pieces are coated with the sauce, then transfer to a plate and serve.