Wang Muzi: I make crucian carp in the postal booth

Postal pavilion crucian carp is a famous dish in Chongqing, originating from the postal pavilion shop in Yongchuan. It is characterized by the medium size of the fish, about 250g each and produced in reservoirs or rivers with good water quality. After such crucian carp is made, the meat is tender and fragrant, and the spicy taste is not very heavy, so it is very popular with people. One year I was on a business trip to Chengdu, and when I returned to Chongqing, I took a detour to the Yongchuan Postal Pavilion Shop and tasted the crucian carp in the postal pavilion there, and I missed it afterwards, fortunately, I paid attention to the chef's production process at that time, so I always wanted to make a crucian carp tasting by myself. One day to the farmer's market to buy vegetables, came across an old farmer with a washbasin loaded with six large crucian carp to sell, look at the color and size of the fish, you know that it is produced in good water quality of the earth crucian carp. A question about the price is not very expensive, a call six four and a half pounds, so I paid for it all. Take it home, wash it with scales, store three in the refrigerator, steam the fish soup for the grandson to steam the hibiscus eggs, and leave the other three to learn to make crucian carp in the post booth.

Cut three or five knives on each side of the fish, sprinkle salt and wine and vinegar, and sit evenly for half an hour. Good crucian carp is not very fishy and does not need to be particularly fishy. Cut the ginger into strips and garlic and cut the shallots into small pieces, and prepare a little large red pepper and large green onion. Pickled ginger pickled sea pepper pickled radish chopped, I also deliberately added pickled sauerkraut, this is my innovation, but pickled radish and pickled sauerkraut should not be too much, otherwise it will rob the umami taste of the fish, because I cook fish never put chicken essence MSG, which fully retains the original umami taste of the fish. For speed, I also added a quarter of the 400g chongqing bridgehead hot pot base, so that there is no need for watercress. Iron pot after heating pour oil, my oil is not very heavy, this and the postal pavilion crucian carp heavy oil characteristics have a certain difference, oil burned to 80% hot pour ginger onion garlic, stir-fried and smell the aroma and then put the ginger soaked sea pepper pickled radish pickled sauerkraut, stir-fry for a moment can be poured into the pre-boiled pork stick bone broth (chicken bone broth is better). After boiling, add the hot pot base block (about 100g), when the lump is finished, you can put in the crucian carp, cook for 5 minutes, then turn over and cook for 5 minutes, fish out the fish plates separately, a plate with a slight juice. Leave a small amount of juice in the pot, pour the extra large pieces of red pepper and large shallots into the pot and stir-fry, stir-fry and then pour the juice on each plate of fish to serve. The correct way to eat crucian carp in the postal pavilion is one person and one fish per plate, which is more in line with the hygienic eating habits of today's people.

About the Author Wang Muzi, alias Shepherd Boy. He went to the countryside in 1969, returned to the city in 1976, and retired from PetroChina in 2010. He has a wide range of hobbies, advocates a rich and colorful life, and occasionally writes.