The master created Qingshui Furong for the first wife, made Ginger Milk Pudding for the second wife, and now, finally, it’s the third wife’s turn to take the stage.
"Our third wife is from Shanghai."
Xie Baomin took a sip of the hot tea brought by the driver and then continued:
"That wife loved eating smoked fish. The master adored her, so he made all kinds of smoked fish. At that time, I was an apprentice, doing all the grunt work, which left me so exhausted that the mere smell of fish made me gag."
Tsk, is this some kind of stress response?
"All kinds of traditional smoked fish, Northeast smoked fish, Hainan smoked fish, Western-style smoked fish, Shandong smoked fish, Shanghai smoked fish, etc., were all made."
Dai Jianli curiously asked:
"Didn’t you get to enjoy the delicious meals then?"
Xie Baomin sighed:
"I enjoyed it once or twice, but being busy with this for months on end, who could stand it?"
Lin Xu asked:
"Didn’t the wife get sick of it?"
"No, she actually didn’t eat much because the master would only let her taste it when he thought it was good. And the master’s way of testing the taste was by having me and the kitchen staff try it together."
Tsk, so the wife hardly ate any, but you got fed up with it.
No wonder you’re so good at making smoked fish. You must have learned a lot from the master back then.
"Junior brother, I’m not one to boast about many things, but when it comes to making smoked fish, I truly consider myself unmatched."
Dai Jianli laughed and said:
"The head chef probably didn’t expect that by trying to please his wife with smoked fish, he’d end up honing your skills."
Since the senior brother is so skilled at making smoked fish, Lin Xu said:
"Then later on, I’ll trouble you for guidance, senior brother. I’ll start by making the sauce."
To make smoked fish, the fish itself isn’t critical. Whether it’s grass carp, butterfish, or carp, even crucian carp or silver carp, they can all be made into smoked fish.
The most important thing about this dish is the sauce.
The quality of the sauce determines the success of the whole dish.
Lin Xu placed a wok on the stove, poured in a little peanut oil, and prepared to start simmering the sauce.
The sauce for Shanghai cuisine shares a lot of similarities, all emphasizing seasoning with soy sauce, using rice wine to remove fishiness, and adding sugar for flavor.
The resulting dishes are rich in soy sauce aroma, with a prominent sweet taste.
While not as excessively sweet as Wuxi cuisine, for people from other parts of the country, the sweetness might still seem quite strong.
After adding the oil, he didn’t wait for it to heat up before adding prepared ginger slices and scallions.
Slowly sauté on low heat, and when the scallions become soft, add prepared star anise, cinnamon, and aged tangerine peel, continue to stir-fry over low heat for about a minute, then add a pinch of Sichuan peppercorns, a pinch of fennel, smashed black cardamom, two cloves, a small handful of bay leaves, and other spices.
Once added, continue to sauté, bringing out the aroma of the spices, then pour in a large bowl of light soy sauce along the sides of the wok, a ladle of dark soy sauce, a ladle of rice wine, half a ladle of steamed fish sauce, and one and a half tablespoons of crystal sugar.
Add everything in, then add a ladle of aged broth, and finally a small basin of water. Bring it to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat.
"Lin old brother’s sauce has a bit of a special touch."
Dai Jianli saw Ma Zhiqiang making alcoholic peanuts, grabbed a handful, and watched as he munched, observing Lin Xu simmer his sauce.
He initially planned to go home, but since they’re going to drink together in the evening, he naturally decided to stay and enjoy the evening with newly met Professor Cui and his old friend Lao Huang.
Just as Lin Xu was adding the ingredients, he thought of mentioning that there weren’t enough spices; the flavor wouldn’t come out.
But Xie Baomin shook his head, signaling him not to speak.
He patiently watched a bit longer and finally understood why there were so few spices when Lin Xu added the aged broth to the pot.
It turns out the plan was to use aged broth to bring out the flavor.
So, no need to say it, the smoked fish would undoubtedly taste remarkable.
Unlike other dishes, the sauce for smoked fish doesn’t need to be simmered for too long, at most half an hour before turning off the heat.
To ensure the spice flavor is strong enough, you need to add a little extra.
Because with a short simmering time, not even half the spice flavor comes out.
But adding aged broth gives a different kind of flavor.
The aged broth is not only fragrant, but the taste of various spices has been simmered to a very mellow state, making it very suitable for soaking this kind of sauce.
Besides the aged broth, the use of steamed fish sauce is also quite interesting.
Many people think that steamed fish sauce can only be used as a condiment for steamed fish, but in fact, it’s a composite seasoning made from a base of light soy sauce and fried bean curd, with added oyster sauce and sugar.
It can be used in any dish that calls for light soy sauce to enhance the flavor.
However, because of the sugar content in steamed fish sauce, using too much can make it overly sweet, so while it can be used in place of light soy sauce, it can’t completely replace it.
Adding steamed fish sauce makes the flavor of the sauce more intense and the umami more pronounced.
Lin Xu covered the pot with a lid and simmered on low heat.
Seeing the pot with steamed fish sauce and aged broth, Dai Jianli was filled with anticipation for the smoked fish tonight.
However, to make this dish truly delicious, there’s a secret weapon, and he wondered if Lin old brother knew about it.
He thought of giving a hint but was also afraid that Xie Baomin was intentionally testing Lin Xu’s skills, so he waited patiently.
Taking advantage of the time spent simmering the sauce, Lin Xu separated all the grass carp sections and cut them into thick slices. After cutting, he added large slices of fresh ginger and scallion segments, then drizzled in rice wine to marinate.
With fresh fish, this marinating step is actually unnecessary; you can go straight to frying.
But since these grass carp had been slaughtered for a few hours, their freshness slightly decreased and there was relatively more off-flavor, so they were simply marinated with scallion, ginger, and rice wine.