Red Cooked Carp
Red Cooked Carp is a home-style seafood dish at difficulty 4/5 (Advanced), about 1051 kcal. Red Cooked Carp is a classic home-style Lu dish. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
4 / 5
★★★★☆
1051 kcal
Ingredients
- Scallion (stalk & green part), ginger, garlic, dried chili peppers
- Oil, salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, aged vinegar, oyster sauce, cooking wine, sugar
- Carp, pork belly
- Ingredients for specific steps: 50ml cooking wine, 50ml aged vinegar, 50ml soy sauce (Ji Jixian), 20ml dark soy sauce (for color), 5ml oyster sauce, 5g salt, 50g sugar, clear water
Steps
- Note: The carp in the following instructions has been preliminarily processed by the seller; the scales and internal organs have been removed.
- Clean the scallions, ginger, garlic, and dried chili peppers separately.
- Cut the scallion whites into sections about 4cm long, then cut each section into four segments.
- Slice the ginger about 3mm thick.
- Pound one garlic clove to crush it and mince it. Cut the rest of the garlic cloves into halves.
- Cut the dried chili peppers into four pieces.
- Slice the pork belly about 4cm*4cm.
- Wash the carp.
- Make several diagonal cuts on the fleshy, thick part of the fish's back to allow for marinating evenly.
- Pour plenty of oil into the wok and heat it to 70% hot (just before smoking starts). Add the fish and fry for 1 minute until the skin is slightly hardened, then remove and set aside. (Note: Do not move the fish immediately after putting it in; wait a bit before moving or flipping it). Remove the frying oil, leaving a small amount at the bottom of the wok.
- Heat the remaining oil in the wok, add the pork belly slices, and stir-fry until fragrant.
- Add the dried chili peppers, scallion pieces, ginger slices, and garlic halves. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
- Pour the fried carp into the wok.
- Pour in the following ingredients along the edge of the wok:
- 50ml cooking wine
- 50ml aged vinegar
- 50ml soy sauce (Ji Jixian)
- 20ml dark soy sauce
- 5ml oyster sauce
- 5g salt
- 50g sugar
- Add enough water to cover the fish surface.
- Turn heat to medium-high and bring the water to a boil.
- Turn heat to low and simmer to let the fish absorb the flavor.
- After 15 minutes, open the pot lid and remove the scallions, ginger, garlic, and dried chili peppers.
- Turn heat to high to reduce the sauce. When the soup reduces to 1/4 of its original amount, sprinkle some minced garlic, turn off the heat, and serve.
- Red Cooked Carp is ready to serve!
Notes
Red Cooked Carp is a classic home-style Lu dish. The fish is fried first and then stewed, resulting in slightly chewy skin and tender meat. The savory, slightly sweet soy-sauce flavor is complemented by the rich taste of the pork belly, and the thick sauce is perfect for scooping over rice. It is rich in high-quality protein and minerals like calcium and phosphorus, aiding in nourishment. Processing the fried fish and the seasoning ratio requires a little patience, but the steps are clear; beginners can also complete it following this guide. From preparation to serving, it takes approximately 1 hour.
Estimated Cooking Difficulty: ★★★★
Estimated Calories: 1051 kcal
Calculation for:
a 2-person portion.
- Carp (approx. 2 jin / 1kg)
- Pork belly 100g
- Scallion 200g
- Ginger 80g
- Garlic cloves 3-4
- Dried chili peppers 2
- Sugar 50g
The following reasons explain why pork belly is added to Red Cooked Carp:
- Stir-frying pork belly releases lard; compared to vegetable oil, animal fat is richer in aroma.
- Pork belly stir-fried to golden brown becomes fragrant when stewed, essentially acting as a side dish.
- Fish itself has low fat content, resulting in a lack of aroma, relying mainly on the texture of the meat. Therefore, using pork fat is generally recommended for fish dishes to obtain a rich, milky, and flavorful fish soup. Lard is the best choice~
If you find any issues or areas for improvement based on this guide's workflow, please open an Issue or Pull Request.