Sauerkraut fish (old sauerkraut flavor)
This sauerkraut fish soup is golden, lustrous and clear, the fish fillet is not a common large flat sheet, but rolled like magnolia petals, the taste is delicate and smooth, the surface does not have the gelatinization layer usually presented after the sizing of the fish fillet, light and thin like no pulp, the bottom of the fruit corn segment is more fresh and spicy, making the sour and spicy taste more soft and thick.
Selection: Slender body without belly
To create this piece, there are currently three mainstream fish species selected: basa, grass carp and mullet. After the "Thirteen Peppers" project was established, the first thing Meng Bo did was to compare the advantages and disadvantages of these three kinds of fish in detail.
First of all, the traditional sauerkraut fish is the most commonly used grass carp, its advantage is that the supply is sufficient and stable, fresh, tender meat, but the disadvantages are also obvious, as long as the heating time is easy to rot, so the fish fillet is usually thicker, so that the flavor effect will become worse, and the grass carp has too many thorns, so it is not the first choice.
Let's talk about the "Basha fish", this kind of large-scale economic fish species produced in Southeast Asia, the output is extremely high and the cost is very low, with the "east wind" of the sauerkraut fish single product in the past two years, large-scale export to China, because of the characteristics of less thorns, tight meat, not easy to break, once by the small and medium-sized sauerkraut fish restaurant as a selling point. However, due to the small fat content in the meat, the aroma is not large, and most of the products circulating in the market are chilled products, and the taste is greatly reduced, so this fish is also not the best choice.
In the end, Meng Bo fixed his eyes on the mullet, which is much more upscale than the grass carp in the eyes of the people, but in terms of price, the two are actually not much different. Moreover, the mullet is very tender to eat, the umami taste is also sufficient, the meat is tight and firm, and it can still maintain the texture of the q bomb after being placed for a period of time after cooking, and it will not become scattered like grass carp. There are almost no small thorns or miscellaneous spines in the meat of the fish, which is less difficult to process and more convenient to eat.
This dish is made of mullet with a growth period of thirteen months, a weight of about 3 pounds, a slender body, and no obesity "belly", such a "figure" has no excess fat, not only has sufficient umami taste, but also has a tight meat quality, which is convenient for changing the knife to form.
In addition to selecting mullet according to its appearance, there is also another identification criterion after cutting the fish meat - observe the T-shaped red blood line on the fillet, the thinner this line, the smaller the fishy taste.
T-shaped blood line, the thinner the fishy smell, the smaller.
Change the knife: "diagonal blade straight pull" method
Whether the fish fillet can be rolled into magnolia petals is directly related to the knife change method.
When the mullet takes meat, be sure to stick close to the spine, on the one hand, increase the yield, on the other hand, ensure the thickness of the meat fan, and then closely follow the belly fish bones, slice the fish steak, that is, a complete fish fan. Remove the fish fins on the back, fix the irregular edge of the fish fan, make it into a well-proportioned rectangle, and then cut the knife from the tail, the knife surface and the cutting board maintain a 25 ° angle, obliquely slice the meat, when it reaches the fish skin, stand up the knife face, cut the fish skin, clean and sharp.
Why can fish fillets be rolled into the shape of magnolia petals?
Meng Bo introduced that the key to its forming has three points: one is the thickness of the fish fan, if you can't grasp the main points, it is difficult to complete the fish fan as much as possible; the second is the thickness of the fish fillet, about 0.2 cm, similar to a one-dollar coin, thin and rolled up, thick is not good; the third is the knife method of the fish, the oblique blade, the straight knife pull, both to maintain the thickness of the fish fillet and control the width of the fish skin, if the fish skin is too wide, it is not easy to roll into petals.
1. Comparison of unqualified fish fans with qualified fish fans. If the knife work is not passed, the meat fan is too thin and the surface is uneven, so that the pattern of the fish fillet rolled up is not beautiful.
2, oblique blade fish meat, angle 25 °, when the fish skin is reached, stand up the blade, straight knife cut the fish skin
3: Roll all the fillets into flowers.
Washing fish: Undercurrent surging method
In the past, when handling fillets, the step of cleaning was often not the focus. After studying sauerkraut fish for many years and experimenting with thousands of pounds of fish fillets, Meng Bo created the "undercurrent surging five-step fish washing method".
Step 1: Put the fillets into the basin, add 10 grams of salt, add water, pick up the fillets with both hands and wash them gently, until the water quality is turbid, fish out the fillets, and pour out the sewage.
Step 2: Put the fillets into the basin, add water again, no need to add salt, flick with both hands, let the fillets vibrate naturally, and replace them again after the water is muddy.
Step 3: The method is the same as above, the fillets are getting cleaner and cleaner, and the water for washing the fish is not as turbid as the previous two times.
Step 4: Imitate the principle of the washing machine, put one hand into the bottom of the basin and stir, let the fish fillets turn in the same direction, pay attention not to directly use your hands to slap and catch the washed fish fillets, otherwise it is easy to break.
Step 5: After changing the water, the method is the same as above, at this time the fillets are clean and smooth and non-sticky, the water also becomes clear, and after fishing out, gently press to remove the excess water.
The purpose of the five-step washing is to remove the mucus and dirt of the fillet, and to separate the fibers of the fillet with water so that it can fully absorb the pulp when marinating.
The first three steps of washing the fish are the same, gently copy and wash, do not over-rub.
Sizing: thin as a light yarn method
Because fish is a typical "insular muscle-like" structure, the water content is large and easy to lose, so it is easy to grow old or broken after heating. As a result, fish fillet dishes must be fully watered and sizing. Therefore, Meng Bo's syrup fillet process has five steps, followed by rinsing→ salting→ secondary hydration→ sizing → standing.
Fillets are placed in a bowl and sprinkled in proportion to marinated fishmeal and gently mixed well. Purple potato starch with a little water to dissolve, pour into the fillet, gently grasp well, and then pour a little water, let it sit aside, after ten minutes the fillet will absorb the powder and water.
What is so special about this sizing technique?
The traditional method of syrup fillets is to add salt, drizzle onion and ginger water, add water starch to grasp well, and finally seal the oil, and the grasping and mixing force is larger. The sizing method of Meng Bo is very gentle, the process is to sprinkle the pickled fish meal prepared in advance, then drizzle a little wet purple potato starch, and finally do not seal the oil, but seal the water. Purple potato starch is light pink, fine powder, strong water absorption, will be the last poured water all absorbed, transported to the fish fillets.
1: Add marinated fish powder to the bottom.
2: Add purple potato starch after secondary hydration and stir well.
3. The last step in sizing the fillets is to pour a little water and let it sit to absorb.
Boiling oil: clear and transparent method
Cut the chicken fat into pieces, wash and pour into the pot, add a little water to boil, the heat to remove the fishy gas, pour into the salad oil to continue to boil, wait for the water vapor will dry when the Hainan golden melon strips, carrot strips, green onions, ginger shreds, simmer until the oil is yellow and clear, at this time all the vegetables are fried and fried dry, filter out the slag to get the chicken fat (the vegetable residue is not wasted, can be boiled to make Sichuan-style red soup, used to make spicy fish, cold pot fish and other dishes).
Adding Hainan golden melon strips, carrot strips, ginger shreds and other ingredients to boil the chicken fat color is particularly yellow, no fishy, this chicken fat attracted peers frequently to Chengdu thirteen pepper sauerkraut fish shop to explore.
The simmered chicken fat is clear and yellow in color