Name: Mythical Fish (Kei Lun Yue)
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon shredded fresh ginger; 1½ tablespoons light soy sauce; 1 teaspoon white vinegar; 1½ tablespoons white wine; 1 whole sea bass or yellowfish; 4 scallions: wash, retain only white portions, thread; 10 pieces of coriander; 20 strips of sweet red pepper; 2 tablespoons peanut oil; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons scallion oil; 3 slices of Smithfield or Virginia ham; 4 large dried Chinese black mushrooms: soak in hot water, wash, discard stems, cut caps into halves; Pinch of white pepper

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Chinese Banquet Cookbook

By Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Published 1985

About

This fish preparation, it is said, was a favorite in the Imperial dining rooms of the Ch’ing dynasty. Its name, Kei Lun, represents an animal with the body of a horse and the head of a dragon, a symbol of great good luck. As a matter of fact, the symbol has been retained to this day. Just look at the label of a bottle of the Japanese beer called Kirin, or Kei Lun.