Text/Willow Shade
Hometown ditch river, there is water there are fish, the most raised is silver carp, fast growth, easy to raise, cheap, easy to sell. There is a kind of fish called bighead carp, big blackhead, hometown people call it "grass head", head big meat less, in the era of meat poverty, this kind of fish no one buys, hometown people do not raise this kind of fish. But because of its similar appearance to the silver carp, often mixed in the fry thrown into the river, at the end of the year there will always be a lot of bighead carp out of the water, because of its fast growth rate, but the size is much larger than the silver carp, so the hometown people will move the brain to eat the head of the fish, which gave birth to the famous dish of "dismantling the head of the carp".
In fact, eating fish heads is not unique to the Yangtai area, Changzhou people also eat fish heads, fish head stew soup, known as "Tianmu Lake casserole fish head", the soup color is milky white, the fish meat is fat and tender, but do not know why to sprinkle some pepper in the fish soup? Probably a hidden earthy smell, right? This more or less loses its original taste.
Tianmu Lake fish head
Nowadays, it is popular to eat minced pepper fish head, almost every restaurant has this dish, the fish head is cut into two pieces, covered with a thick layer of chopped pepper, steamed on the pot, steaming when served, red pepper color is attractive, it is the first choice of Hunan cuisine lovers. But it still lacks the original flavor.
The original taste is the essence of hometown cuisine.
The boiled silver carp head in my hometown is not a soup dish, nor a steamed dish, but a typical stew. The taste is salty and umami, the skin is sticky and smooth, the fish is fat and tender, the soup is thick and thick, the taste is delicious, and the nutrition is rich. Fish head add rape heart, ham, chicken, crab meat, spring shoots, fresh mushrooms, chicken gizzard and other ingredients with the same stew, these foods themselves are delicious, with the fish head with the braised, how can not hang your appetite, how can not let you salivate?
This dish also has a history, in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, there was a rich man surnamed Zhu in Yangzhou City, who although he had a family property, he was famous for his miserliness. Just on this day his wife's birthday, the chef bought a silver carp weighing more than 10 kilograms, the fish body made a dish, the fish head is useless, the rich man felt that it was a pity to abandon it, so he ordered the chef to remove the fish skull, burn the fish meat into a dish, and give it to the long-term workers to eat. When the crowd looked at it, they couldn't help but get angry from the bottom of their hearts, where is the fish, obviously it is the leftovers that have been eaten. This can upset the rich man, busy saying that this is a family dish, boneless and thornless, delicious taste. After the long worker barely ate, he also felt good, and only then did he calm his anger.
Mince the pepper fish head
Later, the chef made many experiments in terms of material selection and cooking, and only after he was satisfied, he hung up the dish plate of boiling silver carp head and officially served it to the public. After being listed, it was quite popular with customers and became a famous dish throughout the country.
Fish heads are actually good things, and people say that people who eat fish are smart. The author has loved to eat fish heads since childhood, but he does not feel more intelligent than ordinary people, and it may be difficult to change genetics. The two children also love to eat fish heads since childhood, especially their son, who was able to cook a pot of fish head vegetables with good color and flavor when he was in junior high school. The two children are very smart, and they are famous in the tens of kilometers, which makes me wonder whether the genetic theory is related to the head of the fish, there is no way to verify, maybe it is married to a smart wife, changed the genes, right?
The author has burned fish heads several times, and has also tried different methods, such as fish head soup, braised fish head, clear water fish head, dry pot fish head, minced pepper fish head, fish head roast cake, etc., and has also tried to do boiled silver carp head, the taste is good, but the appearance is not beautiful, no appearance. The boiled silver carp head was originally a work of art by a famous chef, but was it burned by the "earth stove head" of the rough man in the village such as me? It is a disgrace to its reputation.
Three years ago, my uncle's fish pond was cleared at the end of the year, and a bighead carp was cleared, with a head as big as a washbasin, a tail as wide as a banana fan, a body length like a flat burden, and more than thirty pounds, which may have been a fish that has been lurking in the deep-water fish pond for many years. I was amazed to see such a big fish, and the fleshy head of the fish had already made me salivate. Unfortunately, people only look at it and don't buy it. The reason is simple, the fish is too big for the family to eat, and silver carp is not as suitable for pickling salted fish as blue carp and grass carp. My uncle was alone, he couldn't eat alone, so he brought it to my house, saying that he provided fish, I provided wine, and I also drank old wine from the family's collection.
Chop off the head of the fish, only the head of the fish weighs more than ten pounds. Tear off the gills, scrape and wash them, cut them in half, rub them with fine salt, Shaoxing rice wine, and ginger juice for 20 minutes, put them in a large iron pot, add water, cook until they are broken, fish out and put them into a large basin with warm water, pull out the fish bones in warm water, and the smooth and tender fish meat is removed. Unfortunately, the removal of the fish head is not as easy as the dismantling of the pig's head, and the dismantled fish meat is not beautiful in appearance, but it is basically still complete.
Heat a wok, scoop in cooked lard, when it is 40% hot, put in the heart of the dish, push with a spoon, and when the dish is emerald green, pour into a colander to drain the oil. The pot is brushed and heated, then scoop in the cooked lard, when it is 50% hot, add the shallots and ginger slices to fry until fragrant, stir-fry the salty ham slices into the pot until they are white, pour in the cooking wine, pour into the broth, boil until the soup is milky white, add the sautéed shrimp and crab meat in turn, and then add the bamboo shoots, mushroom slices, chicken slices, chicken gizzard slices, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the fish head meat, bring to a boil, add the vegetable hearts, sprinkle with fine salt, chicken powder, drizzle with white vinegar, cooked lard, water starch and plate.
This is the first time that I have stewed this famous dish from my hometown, and the only time in my life. On the table, fresh and fragrant, sip a mouthful of soup, thick and mellow, taste a piece of fish, fat and tender and smooth, unconsciously, a bottle of old wine hidden for twenty years is in the sky...
Dismantle the braised silver carp head
After Taizhou was separated from Yangzhou, Yangzhou three-headed vegetables also entered some restaurants in their hometown. During the National Day back to the hometown, to a restaurant to eat, this restaurant also focuses on the "three-headed banquet", ordered a dismantled braised silver carp head, fish or that kind of fish, the ingredients are still those, the cooking process is also traditional, even the chef is also a hometowner, I have always tasted the taste of pepper in this dish, some of the fly in the ointment. I know that it is not the chef's fault, the water in my hometown is no longer as turquoise as Jiangnan, and I can no longer grow no smellless bighead carp with braised silver carp head, and can only cover the fish with pepper.
Alas, the original traditional dish of the hometown has become a fairy tale...