Name: Hongshao Wanyu (Red-Cooked Grass Carp with Tangerine Peel)
Yield: Serves 4 as Part of a Chinese Meal, or 2 as a Single Dish.
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 1.1—1.4 kg/2½-3 lb firm, white-fleshed fish such as carp, rock fish, cod, halibut, haddock, scrod or red snapper, or sole, cleaned and left whole; 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce; 3 tablespoons rice wine or dry sherry; 15 g/½ oz dried tangerine or citrus peel; 1 tablespoon sugar; 4 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 tablespoon whole bean sauce (yellow bean sauce); 6 tablespoons chicken stock or water; 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic; 3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger root; 450 ml/16 fl oz peanut oil; 4 tablespoons cornflour

Preparation info

Serves
4
as Part of a Chinese Meal, or 2 as a Single Dish.

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Taste of China

By Ken Hom

Published 1990

About

The carp enjoys a favoured place among aquatic foods in Chinese cuisine. As long ago as the Zhou Dynasty in the tenth century b.c. carp was “domesticated,“ that is, reared in ponds and bred selectively. Today, every farmer tries to maintain a fish pond where the carp thrives in circumstances that would weaken and kill other fish. Small wonder that the carp is a symbol of vigour, endurance, and strength. It is also a sign of respect, so he used.

“Red cooking” means braising