Fish as Chinese people like it in the South

Yangshou Beer Fish

Ingredients:

3 lbs fresh water fish (catfish, carp etc.)

ginger

salt

3-4 tsp white Chinese vinegar

green pepper

tomato

5-600 ml beer (lager)

1 tsp tomato purée

4 tsp light soy sauce

1 tsp oyster Sauce

few cloves of garlic

(in China MSG!!!)

2 tsp dark soy sauce

ground pepper

spring onion

Time of preparation: 10 minutes

Time of cooking: 20 minutes

Basically to prepare this unbelievably delicious and suprisingly easy fish dish, the two things that you have to choose well are a big enough pot (wok is the best) and a good old, undeservingly forgotten fresh water fish. In China it would mean numerous choices, everbody has their own favourite, but since in Europe the choices are limited, I would recommend you to choose the ugly, ”muddy” but still somewhat cute carp or catfish. Whatever you choose, forget sea-water fish and forget about choosing the one that contains the least fat, you need taste, dontcha???!!!

Now comes the preparation part. I know, it is disgusting, slimy but if you wanna eat fish there is no other way. Anyway there are several websites and cookbooks from which you can learn to scale the fish fast and easily, to remove the guts etc. After finishing it, probably most of the people would start to make fillets, steaks or at least get rid of the head and other ugly parts but there are several reasons why not to do so. First of all, there is nothing more appetizing than a whole piece of fish, steaming on a big white plate. Secondly – as I have experienced in China – the best meat of any kind of animal is always on or close to the head of that animal, should it be beef, lamb, fish, anything. And last but not least, if you cut deep enough slits into the meat, then when frying the fish, the smaller fishbones become crispy and you will only have to deal with the big ones, which is a sacrifice that I can gladly make. In conclusion, I’d say that for this dish you should either leave the fish as it is (dressed fish) or cut it into two pieces while removing the backbone.

When the fish is ready, start heating a wok or a big enough pot, pan in which you can fry the fish. To start, put some oil into the wok and when it is hot enough add some slices of ginger as seasoning. After some seconds you can gently slide the fish down into the oil from the side of the wok. First we always fry the skin side to obtain a beautiful golden colour. Frying will take altogether around 5-6 minutes. While frying add some salt and a few teaspoons of white rice vinegar. When the bottom has already turned into golden brown and the edges have changed their colour as well add some small tomatoes and chopped green pepper.

Now we have arrived at the moment when we add the most important ingredient the beer (lager, 500-600 ml). I know it might sound a bit strange but wait until the end, it is gonna give the fish a distinct, characteristic flavour, which is after all the reason why we use it. After adding the beer we can start seasoning. Add the tomato purée, light soy sauce and the oyster sauce. At this point we can turn the fish carefully and now we leave it to simmer for about 10 minutes for the liquid to evaporate.

Finally, when it is almost ready you can add the dark soy sauce and if you really wanna stick to Chinese cooking traditions, then add some MSG, but because of health concern I always leave this part out. So we are almost ready, season the fish with some ground pepper, put some fresh chopped spring onion on top and there is nothing else left. Put it on a plate and everybody: 

Help yourselves!!! Bon appétit!!!

Why should I start another gastroblog?

When I started thinking about writing a new gastroblog about half a year ago, everybody asked me the same question: But why is it gonna be different from the other ones that already exist? I said coz it is me writing it. Yeah, I know it sounds cocky but people who know me probably would describe me as a person who is not really willing to conform to anything. I kinda like to do everything my own way. However, I was not always like this. I grew up in an ordinary family in the suburbs of Budapest but when I turned 14 I suddenly started rebelling against the limitations of ordinariness, regarding every aspect of life. High school was not easy for me, dealing with feelings of my own discontent, with the constant inner urge to change the world around me. During these years I became an advocate of revolutionary ideas, concepts that hadn’t yet gained ground in our society and now 7 years after that, having experienced many things that most of the young adults do not or do not have to, here I am, ready to change the world  or at least a little segment of it.

And why food? Once a close friend of mine told me that I think of food as I think of love. He was never extremely choosy but he rarely ate vegetables or rarely chose new dishes if the question was about what to eat. At the beginning, when we got to know each other it was hard because I always wanted to make him try new stuff while he felt that I wanted to change him. But after a while he enjoyed joining my journey of getting to know culinary delights of the world, he got used to me cooking for him many times when we met and he finally understood that for me food means love. I love cooking for my family, my friends, I love tasting everything, but literally everything. I love talking about food, writing about food, there is nothing that I don’t like about it. But not every city, country is adequate for having such an enthusiastic mind-set.

When I think of the case of Hungary, the first thing that comes into my mind is that what this country needs is refreshment. Though there is a thin layer of people who already realised that we are extremely backward in Europe when it comes to gastronomy, it is mostly about fine-dining and not really about educating people and leading the society towards a gastronomic revolution. If we go to a market in Budapest and in Vienna, only 243 kms away, the difference is enormous. Fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables from all around the world. It does not mean that Austrians do not keep their traditions, not at all, but it means that they are open to new ideas and I think that the food that a person eats can truly show whether that person is open to new ideas generelly or not. If you do not believe me, just think of your own example.

To sum up, to open a new chapter in Eastern European cuisine, I gladly take this uneasy role of trying to share a piece of my world with the readers in order to gradually add little bits to Hungarian culinary “palette”. In my blog, I would like to share culinary experiences that everybody can repeat at home and furthermore change them according to their own taste. While doing this my unconcealed intention is to sensitize people with respect to cultures, religions, minorities etc. I hope that everybody can find something according to their interest and share it with others to create a culinary chain reaction in our secluded culture.

Ready, steady, go!

Help yourselves! Bon appétit !