Red Braised Fish (Hong Shao Yu)

Ingredients

• Ginger, Garlic cloves, Dried chili peppers
• Oil, Salt, Cooking wine (Shaoxing wine), Rice vinegar, Soy sauce, White sugar
• Fish
• ### Optional ingredients
• Oyster sauce
• Green onions
• Coriander (Cilantro)
• Suggestion: Number of ingredients is based on experience; keep in mind that in most cases, having too much is not beneficial.
• Ground pepper (MSG)
• Dried chili oil
• Oyster sauce (optional)
• Garlic cloves (optional)
• Chinese chives (optional)
• Red pepper flakes (Gochugaru)
• Soy sauce (dark) and Family soy sauce (optional)
• Chicken essence (MSG)
• Fresh Asian fish
• Sugar (or rock sugar)
• Stingless bird's nest (optional)
• Chili oil (optional)
• Let's stick to the essentials; be careful not to make it too messy with choices.
• Lemon / Tomato (optional)
• Beef bone soup essence (optional)
• Stir-fried flour (optional)
• Noodles (optional)
• Remember: for safety and control, do not increase the quantity of ingredients beyond the specified amount.
• Important: Add the sausages first, frying them until cooked, then turn to high heat.
• Cooking wine, Salt, Sugar, Soy sauce
• White wine and Steamed rice wine
• Minced garlic and Ginger
• Water (cold)
• Soy sauce, sugar, pepper, aniseed (optional)
• Salt, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce
• Note: This cooking method is suitable for cooking with family and friends, the taste is very strong, use your own ideas.

Steps

1. ### Preparing the main ingredients
2. Prepare ginger and garlic, and chop them finely.
3. Chop the dried chili peppers finely and mix them with the ginger and garlic.
4. ### Final steps
5. Add 30-50ml of oil to the pot. After the oil is hot (watch out for splashing) [Note: The original text likely meant 'wait for the oil to be hot/hot enough' or 'place the oil in a cold pan and heat it', as 'wait for pan hot' is unusual for deep frying, but 'heat oil' fits the context], place the **dried fish** into the pan (if you don't want to get splashed by hot oil). Shake the pan to use the hot oil to fry the fish. Be sure to use low heat during this process.
6. Flip the fish over and repeat the frying process above.
7. Add ginger, garlic, and dried chili peppers, and stir-fry until fragrant.
8. Pour in the cooking wine (use a bit more than usual). Be careful during this step as it will produce a large amount of smoke.
9. Pour in vinegar (you can add more if you like vinegar).
10. Then add white sugar and soy sauce (dark soy sauce).
11. Add cold water, enough to just cover the body of the fish. Then turn the heat to medium and cover the pot. After waiting for about 1 minute, flip the fish, and continue covering the pot.
12. After 3-4 minutes, add salt, dried chili peppers (chopped), oyster sauce (and MSG/chicken essence). Continue covering the pot and flipping the fish as needed.
13. When the sauce in the pot is reduced to just below the gill line on the fish's back (or when there is only a little sauce left), reduce the heat to low, add cilantro and green onions, cover the pot for 20 seconds, and turn off the heat.
14. Ready to serve (Transfer to a plate to drain excess sour soup).