Pine Nut Yellow Croaker
Recipe for crispy-skinned, tender yellow croaker with sweet, sour, mellow and fresh flavors
Story
This classic Chinese seafood dish centers on perfectly cooked yellow croaker, with a crisp golden exterior and juicy, tender interior, tossed in a balanced sweet and sour sauce with deep mellow savoriness, and accented with nutty pine nuts for added texture and rich flavor.
Ingredients
Yellow croaker (split open, cleaned, head cut off and set aside)
1 whole (approx. 600g)
Green peas
5g
Pine nuts
5g
Scallion (washed and minced)
1 stalk
Ginger (washed and minced)
1 small piece
Garlic (washed and minced)
3 cloves
Starch (wet starch)
to taste / as needed
Cooking wine
to taste / as needed
soy sauce
to taste
stock
to taste
white sugar
to taste
fragrant vinegar
to taste
monosodium glutamate
to taste
salt
to taste
cooked edible oil
to taste
edible oil (for frying fish)
to taste
Instructions
1
Prepare the fish
Split the yellow croaker open, clean it thoroughly, cut off the fish head and set it aside separately; wash the scallions, ginger and garlic, then mince them.
2
Debone the fish
Use a knife to cut the fish along the spine into two halves that remain connected only at the tail, then remove all spinal bones and small fish bones.
3
Score and marinate the fish
Use a knife to cut wheat-ear-shaped slits into the inner side of the two fish halves (the side that faced the internal organs), sprinkle a layer of salt, drizzle a layer of cooking wine, then coat with a layer of wet starch.
4
Deep-fry the fish
Pour oil into a wok and heat over high heat, first deep-fry the fish head, then remove it, split it open with a knife and flatten it. Next, deep-fry the fish body until golden brown, remove it, and place the fish head and body together flat on a plate.
5
Prepare the thickening sauce
Mix cooking wine, soy sauce, stock, sugar, aromatic vinegar, and MSG together to make a thickening sauce.
6
Pour the sauce over the fish
Leave a small amount of oil in the wok, heat it, add pine nuts and green peas, stir-fry until cooked, then add the minced scallion, ginger and garlic and continue to stir-fry. Next, pour in the thickening sauce, drizzle in an appropriate amount of hot oil, bring to a boil, then pour it over the deep-fried fish.
