Chapter 34 Southern Grilled Fish

The south is rich in water resources and there are many freshwater fish. Besides fishing, there are many other funs.Tasting fish food is also a very happy thing. The same fish is eaten in different ways in different places, and you can explore the local culture from eating. The new way of eating grilled fish has been enthusiastically sought after by young white-collar workers in the south, and has gradually become a fashionable food in the south, attracting wide attention from diners. As a folk eater, I have traveled all over the world, and I have eaten grilled fish many times, but the taste and method of eating are different in each place.There was a period of research and comparison before I realized that the grilled fish came from Chongqing, and they all linked the Three Kingdoms and Zhuge Liang together, playing the historical and cultural card. Only Yueyang by the Dongting Lake established its own porridge fish system. Make grilled fish more nutritious.

Tracing back to the historical origin of grilled fish, chefs and catering companies probably have two explanations for it: one is when Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei became friends in Taoyuan, Chef Zhang’s unique skill was charcoal grilled fish, which can be mellow and delicious, and fresh fresh.After eating, Liu Bei praised him greatly: You are good at cooking, and you should remember it first.After Liu Bei came to the throne, he designated the grilled fish he had eaten as the national dish of Shu, and it spread.One is that Zhuge Liang loved to eat grilled fish when he lived in seclusion in Longzhong. He had a famous chef who often cooked grilled fish for him at family banquets. He was very popular with his friends. After Liu Bei ascended the throne, Zhuge Liang recommended the chef to Liu Bei as his royal chef.Liu Bei also fell in love with grilled fish, never tired of eating it, and raised it to the imperial banquet as an indispensable imperial banquet delicacy.After Zhuge Liang's death, folks called this stunning grilled fish "Zhuge Grilled Fish".The grilled fish skills of famous chefs are never passed on to the outside world, and are only allowed to be passed down from generation to generation. In the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, 13 royal chefs were successively produced to cook grilled fish for the emperor.

Grilled fish originated in Wanzhou County, Chongqing City, near Baidi City, where Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang to leave him alone. Zhuge Grilled Fish used to be limited to supper stalls and roadside snack bars. It was a dish that could not be found in halls, and it did not have any packaging and brand awareness. It was even more difficult to find large restaurants and hotels, like a child sleeping on the street. In the 1990s, after the reform and opening up, the economy prospered, and the catering industry developed accordingly, and local snacks and famous snacks were brought back to the table.Zhuge Grilled Fish was spotted by a hotel chef at this time, brought back to the hotel, and became a high-end delicacy.The chef combines the ancestral skills of grilling fish with modern fish cooking techniques, breaking away from the hot pot method of "gathering around the stove to drink and cheer, and all kinds of flavors melt in a small cauldron", and integrates the essence of pickling, roasting and stewing in the production process, combining The specialty of traditional hot pot, barbecue, Chinese food, adding fresh vegetables, bean skin, vermicelli, bean sprouts, etc., adding pickled pepper, oyster juice, sauerkraut, tempeh, green onion, oyster sauce, sauce, abalone sauce, etc. to make a compound flavor, It is full of unique style and characteristics of eating while boiling, which breaks away from the taste of ordinary grilled fish.This kind of grilled fish looks crispy on the outside, golden in color, soft and tender in taste, delicious in taste, rich in nutrition, and achieves the effects of beauty and fitness, brain strengthening, tendons and bones.

When the whole pot of grilled fish is placed in front of the dining table, the aroma is strong, the soup is bright red, spicy but not dry, the mouth is not dry, not angry, the aftertaste is fragrant, oily but not greasy, there is a unique burnt aroma and strong flavor Material aroma. After walking for many years, I have eaten grilled fish in Wuhan, Chongqing, Changde, and Beijing, but each has its own taste. It was the first time I ate grilled fish in Juyi Garden in Wuchang. It was the summer of 2006.Zhu Hui, Tang Miao, Lu Yong and other Wuhan literary friends were present. They were frequent visitors to Juyi Garden, and they took me to eat Chinese-flavored Xiao Zhang couple grilled fish.I am a son of Dongting who loves fish. I often collect various fish recipes and eating methods, and I am very satisfied with their recommendations.

Two long stainless steel basins were brought in, alcohol was burning at the bottom of the basins, and in each basin lay a fish, the fish was dark in color but steaming hotly.I wonder why the grilled fish is still boiled and eaten?I tentatively picked up some, and it was burnt fish skin, black and mushy, a little limp, and when the chopsticks trembled, the fish skin shrank up and down, stuffed it into my mouth, chewing it was a little sticky , tenacity, and the crispy surface has a strong curry flavor. It is much more flavorful than braised fish, boiled fish, pickled fish, and steamed fish.The fish that was pinched could smell bloody, but it was already cooked through. The fish was tender, sweet and fresh.I took a closer look and found that there are two kinds of fish, one is bighead carp and the other is grass carp. I just ate bighead carp. I tasted the grilled grass carp before I realized that the taste of the meat is different. The fragrance and the coolness of the smell of blood.After eating the fish, a plate of miscellaneous vegetables appeared on the bottom of the basin, including tofu, konjac, bean curd, bean sprouts, etc.The tofu is full of fish flavor and curry, like a long-cooked Mala Tang, full of flavor, and the konjac and bean curd are tender and numb. I discovered that the essence of grilled fish is the long-cooked tofu, konjac and bean curd.

The second time I ate grilled fish was in Beijing. In April 2007, I was in Tongzhou Yuzhuang with Gu Qingsheng and Han Haoyue.Gu Qingsheng said that he often comes here with his friends to eat fish. Maybe the fish in Beijing is not as delicious as the fish in the south, or the ingredients are not as particular as in the south. I think the taste is still far from the first time I ate grilled fish.The main reason is that it lacks some curry taste, and the roast is not cooked enough. After cooking for a long time, I chatted while eating. Later, I found that there are many ingredients, especially konjac and tofu. Eat it, so that you can feel the lightness and delicious taste of the grilled fish.

In August 2007, when I went to Chongqing, I ate the grilled fish from the place of origin, that is, Zhuge grilled fish.Let me eat the original taste, and then I know that grilled fish is very particular. Generally, I choose a fish of about two catties, remove the scales after killing, cut it open from the back, remove the internal organs, wash away the blood and tear off the black film, and cut the body surface with a knife , add cooking wine, salt, monosodium glutamate and marinate for about ten minutes, then put it on the shelf and bake.This kind of marinating is completely different from the grilled fish on the street stall. The grilled fish on the street stall is marinated and then dried on a low fire, and then half-cooked in oil; Zhuge grilled fish is freshly marinated. Roast on the rack.

The grilled fish should be turned constantly on the grill to let the fish body be heated evenly. The fire should not be too hot, and the flame should keep a slight yellow light, otherwise the fish will be burnt and burnt.The grill is barbed wire, do not choose plating, it is easy to stick to the surface of grilled fish.Bake for about ten minutes, the grilled fish will reach nine maturity, the fragrance is elegant, and the fish body is orange.Brush another layer of old oil to ensure that the aroma of the old oil fully enters the fish, sprinkle with cumin powder, and bake for about a minute, then put the grilled fish into a stainless steel basin lined with shredded onions to remove the smell of smoke.

Prepare a frying pan, put the mixed oil made of lard and vegetable oil, add ginger, garlic, bean paste, Yongchuan beans, fry until fragrant, add old oil, fresh chicken paste, fresh soup, add chicken essence, sugar to taste, and then add Seasonal vegetables such as celery and cucumber, boiled and poured into the fish basin. Start the pot again, heat the mixed oil to 50% heat, add dried chili and dried Chinese prickly ash to fry until fragrant, pour it over the fish, add shredded green onion, coriander, and red pepper flakes to garnish, and it becomes an authentic Zhuge grilled fish. As soon as I ate it, I realized that the taste of authentic Zhuge grilled fish is completely different from that of other places. The elegant fragrance is not pure fish or spices, but a mixture of fish and spices. smell, no raw spice smell.The surface of the fish is burnt yellow, and it is not dark, but a little burnt. After cooking, the burnt part has an unusual aroma. bitterness.The fish inside has no bloody smell at all, and the meat is separated into thin slices, tender and refreshing. If you are a diner who is afraid of spicy food, you can eat the lighter fish inside. If you are a diner who eats chili or a taster, you can put the meat slices in the soup Soak it in the water, it tastes strange when you eat it, and your taste buds are excited.The hardest thing to imagine is that the curry flavor has been integrated into the fish, without any pungent taste, and the fishy smell is well covered.

In November 2008, I participated in the investigation of food resources in Hunan Province, and I ate Yueyang grilled fish in Changde, which gave me a new understanding of grilled fish. Changde is a gourmet town, and it is close to Dongting Lake. It is not surprising to eat any kind of fish.It is understood that in recent years Changde has become popular to eat freshwater fish from the Yangtze River. There are different ways to eat them, and grilled fish is just one of them.After visiting the Dongting Lake area, I realized that Yueyang grilled fish is very popular among diners in Yueyang, Changde, Yiyang and other places in the Dongting Lake area. Yueyang barbecue is becoming popular in Hunan.

The main products of Yueyang BBQ are grilled fish and porridge, as well as various freshwater products from Dongting Lake.There are two types of Yueyang barbecue, one is purely grilled with charcoal fire as a snack, and the other is grilled fish and porridge.The former is popular in the streets and alleys, satisfying children and female gourmets. The latter is operated by a storefront, mainly providing food for diners and male gourmets. The main dish is grilled crucian carp, which can also be served on the table.What we want is grilled grass carp. After grilling, it is heated on the table with charcoal fire. Although it is not as distinctive as Zhuge grilled fish, it is slightly better than Zhuge grilled fish in taste, especially its umami taste is very rare. Amazing.The taste of Yueyang grilled fish is concentrated in the soup, and after a sip, it is very delicious and has an endless aftertaste. There are many raw materials for grilled fish in the south, which are mainly adjusted according to the resources of each place and the preferences of the local people, such as carp, crucian carp, grass carp, bighead carp, and tilapia.