Tangba Town's Stir-fried Fish

Chinese name: 塘坝鱼 (táng bà yú)  Style: Sichuan(Szechuan) Cuisine  Characteristics: Tangba Town's Stir-fried Fish is characterized by fresh, tender ingredients with a spicy aroma.  Tangba Town's Stir-fried Fish is a Sichuan specialty, generously spiced but not so hot as other Sichuan dishes. It originated from a Xian boy named Su whose home town was Tangba of Chongqing. Being away from his home town, Su missed the strong flavor of Chongqing dishes. One day, he invited his friends for a meal and cooked some fish for them using the chili sauce he had brought from home. To his surprise, all his friends loved his fish. Later, Su opened a small restaurant in Xian and asked a chef from his hometown Tangba to teach him to cook fish. Su named the dish cooked by his master from Tangba 'Tangba Fish'.

Ingredients: 1  grass carp, around 500 g  100 g konjac tofu (or hard bean curd)  100 g celery stems  Preparation: A. Scrape the scales off the grass carp and remove the entrails. Wash it well and cut it into chunks.  B. Clean the konjac tofu (or hard bean curd). Cut into thick strips and place in a dish.  C. Clean the celery stems. Cut into sections and put in a dish.

Seasonings: green onion sections  thinly sliced ginger  broad bean paste  cooking wine  soy sauce  dry cornstarch  salt  chicken essence (chicken stock/bouillon) or monosodium glutamate  five spices powder Note: the amount of the seasonings listed above can be appropriately used according to one's personal taste.

Methods:

Step 1: Pour the grass carp chunks into a small basin. Add the green onion sections, ginger slices, cooking wine, salt, five spices powder and soy sauce. Stir well with chopsticks, and leave to marinate for 15-20 minutes.

Step 2: Sprinkle some dry cornstarch on the carp chunks, and stir well with chopsticks until the fish feels sticky. Place a wok over high heat. Add some cooking oil. Add in the fish pieces one by one with chopsticks. Turn heat to medium to stir-fry the carp chunks as soon as they turn golden. Turn off the heat and quickly remove the pieces from the wok, and place in a colander to drain the oil, and then transfer to a dish.

Step 3: Leave some cooking oil in the wok, swirling to coat the sides. Add the broad bean paste and stir it for 30 seconds until you feel the spiciness.

Step 4: Pour in the konjac tofu (or hard bean curd) straps and add half a bowl of water. Bring to boil and add the salt and chicken essence. Stir well and add the celery sections and fried grass carp chunks. Stir and boil it for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve in a fine porcelain fish dish. Tangba Town's Stir-fried Fish is ready for you to enjoy!

source:http://www.travelchinaguide.com/tour/food/chinese-cooking/tangba-stir-fried-fish.htm