In the world of Chongqing Jianghu cuisine, Sour Fish definitely occupies a pivotal position. Without exquisite plating, it has conquered the taste buds of countless diners with its pure sour, spicy, fresh and mellow flavor. From street stalls to five-star hotels, from Chongqing to the whole country, it has become one of the most representative Chongqing flavors. In 2018, Sour Fish was successfully selected as one of the “Top Ten Classic Dishes in Chongqing”. Behind this honor is its decades of precipitated flavor and stories, as well as Chongqing people’s sincerity and love for food.
Also known as Sour Soup Fish, Sour Fish has many widely spread legends about its origin, among which the most recognized version is closely related to Jiangjin District of Chongqing. It is said that in the 1980s, Zou Kaixi, a chef in Shuangfu Town, Jiangjin, found that the sour radish crucian carp in his restaurant was not popular among diners because the pickled radish was soft and the crucian carp had many bones. So he made bold improvements, replacing the sour radish with tender and crisp pickled mustard greens that every household in rural Chongqing would pickle, and replacing the crucian carp with local grass carp with few bones and tender meat. After repeated adjustments, he finally finalized this dish “Sour Fish”. Later, drivers from north and south praised it after tasting it, and through word of mouth, Sour Fish gradually walked out of Jiangjin, became popular in Chongqing, and finally became a well-known special dish in the country. In addition, there are many other theories, such as originating from fishing boats in Jiangcun, Jiangjin and restaurants in Laifeng Town, Bishan. Each theory carries the folk fireworks of Sour Fish, confirming its nature of originating from life and spreading among the people.
An authentic Chongqing Sour Fish lies in the selection and processing of ingredients, and every step is exquisite. The main ingredient is preferably fresh local grass carp, which has tender meat, few bones and thick flesh, rich in high-quality protein and minerals, making it the best choice for making Sour Fish. When processing the fish, remove the scales, gills and internal organs, wash it, slice it into evenly thick fish fillets, and cut the fish bones into sections for later use; the fish fillets need to be marinated with salt, pepper and cooking wine for 10 minutes to remove the fishy smell, then add egg white and starch and mix well to coat, which can make the fish fillets more tender and Q弹 after cooking, not easy to break.
Pickled mustard greens are the “flavor leader” of Sour Fish. They must be local old jar pickled mustard greens in Chongqing, which are made by sealing and pickling wide-leaf green vegetables for a long time, with golden color, strong sour aroma, crisp and refreshing taste, and no additives. The pickled mustard greens need to be cut into small sections, rinsed with water in advance to remove excess salt, and then stir-fried in a pot to release the sour aroma, so as to stimulate the sour taste of the pickled mustard greens and avoid astringent taste. In addition to fish and pickled mustard greens, seasonings such as Chinese prickly ash, pickled young ginger, pickled red peppers and wild peppers are also indispensable, which together outline the sour, spicy, fresh and numbing flavor layers of Sour Fish.
The cooking process seems simple, but it hides mysteries. First, put lard in a pot and heat it to 50% heat, add pickled mustard greens, pickled young ginger, pickled red peppers, wild peppers and scallion sections and stir-fry until a strong sour and spicy aroma is released; then add an appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil over high heat, add fish bones, and continue to cook for 5-8 minutes until the soup turns milky white. At this time, the umami taste of the fish bones and the sour aroma of the pickled mustard greens are fully integrated, laying the foundation for the soup base; then, put the coated fish fillets into the pot one by one, gently stir them apart with chopsticks, and cook until the fish fillets are half-cooked, do not cook for too long, otherwise the fish fillets will become tough; finally, add an appropriate amount of salt, pepper and cooking wine to taste, sprinkle with chopped scallions and Chinese prickly ash, pour a spoonful of boiling hot oil, and with a “sizzle”, the aroma bursts instantly, and an authentic Chongqing Sour Fish is completed.
Tasting Sour Fish requires three steps: looking, smelling and tasting. Look at the soup color: the soup of authentic Sour Fish is milky white and clear, without impurities, the fish fillets are white in color, and the pickled mustard greens are golden and crisp; smell the aroma: the sour aroma, spicy aroma and fish aroma are intertwined, not pungent or stuffy, making people appetizing; taste the taste: the fish fillets are tender and melt in the mouth, the pickled mustard greens are crisp and refreshing, the soup is sour, spicy, fresh and numbing, with a slight charred aroma of pickled peppers, not dry or greasy, appetizing and relieving greasiness. It is an excellent choice whether served with rice or noodles. Today, Sour Fish has derived many versions, such as green prickly ash Sour Fish and golden soup Sour Fish, but what remains unchanged is the Chongqing Jianghu flavor in its bones.
In Chongqing, there are countless good places to taste Sour Fish. Whether it is a time-honored restaurant in Jiangjin or a Jianghu restaurant in downtown Chongqing, you can taste the authentic flavor. Among them, the Sour Fish in Jiangjin pays attention to the treatment of pickled peppers. After the fish fillets are served, the charred pickled peppers are poured on the soup, which has a more distinctive flavor; while the Sour Fish in downtown Chongqing pays more attention to the balance of taste, suitable for diners with different tastes. If you come to Chongqing, you must order a Sour Fish and feel the boldness and delicacy of Chongqing Jianghu cuisine in the sour, spicy, fresh and numbing taste.
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