Appreciation of the United States: Fish head hot pot

Author: Little Cloud Cat Cat

Source: "Yilin Full Color Edition" July 2021

Inside the fish, my favorite is the head of the fish. Your favorite way to eat it is fish head hot pot. The first time I remembered the fish head hot pot, I was still very small.

My aunt's house is in the water town, every family has a fish pond, the fish pond is set up with grape racks, in the summer, the green vines climb the shelves, the water is cool and leisurely, and the fish can grow vigorously at this time. Every year, at the end of the summer vacation, the two cousins would catch large grass carp and silver carp in their fish pond, plus some unnamed wild fish caught in the nearby ditch, and send them to my home in the mountains of western Hubei.

Grandpa was still alive at that time, and no matter what my mother did to eat, she would keep some for Grandpa. She said that Grandpa is old, delicious to let Grandpa eat more, we are still young, and we will have more time to eat later.

I prefer wild fish that are dried as small fish to the fat and tender domestic fish. The fish is more fragrant and the meat is finer. One year, the wild fish sent were not as good as in previous years, and the cousin was particularly careful to serve dozens of dried fish, cook, turn over, clip up one by one, and sprinkle salt. Just as I was eating the first fish sacredly and solemnly and preparing to start eating the second, my mother did not know where to drill out and made a gesture to take them away. Her reasoning was: "There are few fish, you can taste it, and the rest is for Grandpa." "I didn't do it anymore, and I started drying my throat." My mother ignored it and walked out with the fish. Seeing that the fish could not be saved, my legs were weak, rolling on the ground and crying again, probably because I really didn't want the fish, and the tears also surged out. The cousin on the side couldn't look at it anymore, pulled me up, and said, "Isn't there a lot of big fish, and the big fish are dried and tastier." "Regardless of whether the big dried fish is more delicious, when my mother walked out of the house with the fish, I knew that this one would not come, so I whimpered and cried for a while, and I could only obediently accept it."

For several days after that, my mother seemed to owe me a little debt, and she changed her tricks to make all kinds of delicious food. Among them is the fish head hot pot. The soup base is fried in red oil with my mother's own watercress, and add peppercorns, dried pepper segments, and ginger slices to stir-fry. The cold water stabbed and poured in, instantly turning into a pot of red soup. Cut the tofu into small pieces between boiling water and blanch the water to remove the bean smell. After the red soup is boiled in the pot, the treated fish head and tofu are added and seasoned with salt. Cook on high heat for another ten minutes and the fish head will be ready to eat.

Except for the fish eyes and the gills, I will not refuse all the meat on the fish's head.

Later, after eating the fish head hot pot of fresh fish, my mother really fulfilled her promise, dried the big fish, and cooked a small pot of dried fish head soup for me when it was about to enter autumn. I just remember the cold that day, rushing home from school, coughing constantly, and not being interested in dinner. My mother took the whole fish that was half dried from the bacon rack, clicked and chopped off the head of the fish, chopped the large pieces, and boiled it in boiling water. After the water boiled, he threw a few fingers of fiery red pepper into it. I don't forget whether I drank the soup first or ate the fish head first, but it was the most delicious fish head soup I've ever eaten.

After drying, the meat on the fish's head is pitiful, and I have to painstakingly nibble it down with my teeth, but this little bit of meat makes me think about it to this day. There was also a strange pairing that day – coriander.

My mother is cheerful, eating coriander in addition to making spices will be chopped, the rest is the whole plant. Autumn parsley is almost out of season, the roots are hard, there is a hint of bitterness at first, but when chewed, there will be the sweetness of tender coriander. Coupled with the fierce chaotian pepper, one bowl down full of hot and spicy, and then another bowl down, fine beads of sweat appeared on the forehead, which was simply smooth and transparent. It seems that from that day on, as long as I have a cold, my mother will definitely cook spicy fish head soup for me to drink. And I, whenever I have a physical problem, I miss the dried fish head soup boiled in boiled water, and I also miss the philosophy of life she summed up by the stove.

When recalling his mother, Lao She sighed: "The reason why I can become a person who is not very bad is that my mother is inspired. And I, although I have not grown into a person who has done a great deal in society, but the food I love, the life I love, and all the ways I know about being human are also told to me by my mother with her simple behavior. ”