Hot-and-Sour Carp

Name: Hot-and-Sour Carp
Cuisine: Hebei
Ingredients: 1 large whole carp, about 450g/1lb; 5 ml/1 tsp salt; vegetable oil, for deep-frying; 25 g/1 oz cloud ear/wood ear mushrooms, soaked until soft; 30 ml/2 tbsp rice vinegar; 15 ml/1 tbsp yellow bean sauce; 2.5 ml/½ tsp sugar; 2 spring onions/scallions, chopped; 25 g/1 oz cloud ear/wood ear mushrooms, soaked until soft; 25 g/1 oz fresh root ginger, grated; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 15 ml/1 tbsp chilli oil; 2 spring onions/scallions, chopped

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

China

By Terry Tan

Published 2020

About

This strongly flavoured Hebei dish is typical of the region’s cooking. The national capital of Beijing is situated within Hebei, and this province is also where the Great Wall ends. Hebei is a mountainous plateau, traversed by tributaries of the Yellow River, which explains the area’s fondness for freshwater fish.

Ingredients

1 large whole carp, about 450g/1lb
5 ml/1 tsp salt
ve

Asia
China
Fish course
Pescatarian
Gluten-free

Method

Clean the carp but leave it whole. Make diagonal cuts across the thickest part of the fish and rub the skin and cuts with salt. Heat the oil for deep-frying in a wok or deep-fryer, then deep-fry the carp until crisp and cooked through. Set it aside and keep warm. Reserve 30 ml