Here is a very simple and easy fish recipe from Shanghai, particularly
useful for preparing fish which is not in itself very flavourful. The
recipe is from Pei Mei's _Chinese Cook Book Vol. 1_. The "wine", I take
it, is of the Shaoxing/Shaoshing type or similar, which is often
replaced with dry sherry in Western interpretations. Spelling, etc. is
left "as is".

Victor

Spicy Fish Slices
Su Shin Hsun Yü

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs. Fish meat (any white fish)
3 Green onions
5 slices Ginger
5 T. soysauce
1/2 t. Salt
1 T. Wine
4 T. Sugar
1 1/3 C. boiling water
1 t. Five spice powder (Wu hsiang fen)
5 C. Oil

Procedu

1. Slice the fish meat in 1 1/2'' wide and 2 1/2'' long thick slices
(about 16 slices).

2. Crush green onions and ginger. Put in a bowl with soysauce, wine
and salt. Marinate the fish slices with this mixture for about 3-4
hours.

3. Mix sugar and five spice powder in a bowl add boiling water to mix
well.

4. Heat oil very hot in frying pan, fry the fish until very dark (about
3 minutes). Remove the fish from the pan and put in sugar mixture
immediately, soak about 3-4 minutes.

5. Remove the fish from sugar mixture and lay on platter. Let it cool
before serving.

NOTE:
A substitute for Five Spice Powder may be allspice.

Victor wrote on Mon, 4 Jan 2010 23:51:36 +0100:

> Victor

> Spicy Fish Slices
> Su Shin Hsun Yü

> Ingredients:

> 1 1/4 lbs. Fish meat (any white fish)
> 3 Green onions
> 5 slices Ginger
> 5 T. soysauce
> 1/2 t. Salt
> 1 T. Wine
> 4 T. Sugar
> 1 1/3 C. boiling water
> 1 t. Five spice powder (Wu hsiang fen)
> 5 C. Oil

> Procedu

> 1. Slice the fish meat in 1 1/2'' wide and 2 1/2'' long thick
> slices (about 16 slices).

> 2. Crush green onions and ginger. Put in a bowl with
> soysauce, wine and salt. Marinate the fish slices with this
> mixture for about 3-4 hours.

> 3. Mix sugar and five spice powder in a bowl add boiling
> water to mix well.

> 4. Heat oil very hot in frying pan, fry the fish until very
> dark (about 3 minutes). Remove the fish from the pan and put
> in sugar mixture immediately, soak about 3-4 minutes.

> 5. Remove the fish from sugar mixture and lay on platter.
> Let it cool before serving.

Sounds intriguing but Five-spice powder is easy enough to come by.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"Victor Sack" > wrote in message
.. .
> Here is a very simple and easy fish recipe from Shanghai, particularly
> useful for preparing fish which is not in itself very flavourful. The
> recipe is from Pei Mei's _Chinese Cook Book Vol. 1_. The "wine", I take
> it, is of the Shaoxing/Shaoshing type or similar, which is often
> replaced with dry sherry in Western interpretations. Spelling, etc. is
> left "as is".
>
> Victor
>
> Spicy Fish Slices
> Su Shin Hsun Yü
>
> Ingredients:
>
> 1 1/4 lbs. Fish meat (any white fish)
> 3 Green onions
> 5 slices Ginger
> 5 T. soysauce
> 1/2 t. Salt
> 1 T. Wine
> 4 T. Sugar
> 1 1/3 C. boiling water
> 1 t. Five spice powder (Wu hsiang fen)
> 5 C. Oil
>
> Procedu
>
> 1. Slice the fish meat in 1 1/2'' wide and 2 1/2'' long thick slices
> (about 16 slices).
>
> 2. Crush green onions and ginger. Put in a bowl with soysauce, wine
> and salt. Marinate the fish slices with this mixture for about 3-4
> hours.
>
> 3. Mix sugar and five spice powder in a bowl add boiling water to mix
> well.
>
> 4. Heat oil very hot in frying pan, fry the fish until very dark (about
> 3 minutes). Remove the fish from the pan and put in sugar mixture
> immediately, soak about 3-4 minutes.
>
> 5. Remove the fish from sugar mixture and lay on platter. Let it cool
> before serving.
>
> NOTE:
> A substitute for Five Spice Powder may be allspice.
>
>
It sounds interesting. What kind of fish have you used, Sea Bass, or
Halibut? I'm guessing it's not a scaled fish, like Snapper. Fry in 5 cups of
oil? That must be a mistake? I vote no strongly on replacing Five Spice
Powder with allspice. You'd do that in Minnesota.

Kent

James Silverton > wrote:

> Victor wrote on Mon, 4 Jan 2010 23:51:36 +0100:
>
> > Spicy Fish Slices
> > Su Shin Hsun Yü
>
> Sounds intriguing but Five-spice powder is easy enough to come by.

Pei Mei's Cook Book Vol. 1 was published in English in 1969, when
five-spice powder was not anywhere as common in America as it is today.
I suspect that even now it might be hard to find it somewhere in rural
Oklahoma.

Victor

Kent > wrote:

> "Victor Sack" > wrote...
> > The
> > recipe is from Pei Mei's _Chinese Cook Book Vol. 1_.
> >
> > Spicy Fish Slices
> > Su Shin Hsun Yü
> >
> It sounds interesting. What kind of fish have you used, Sea Bass, or
> Halibut? I'm guessing it's not a scaled fish, like Snapper.

I used haddock; it worked well enough.

> Fry in 5 cups of
> oil? That must be a mistake?

Not a mistake, it is a true deep-fry recipe. Of course it is possible
to use less oil and stir-fry the fish instead.

> I vote no strongly on replacing Five Spice
> Powder with allspice. You'd do that in Minnesota.

The recipe was published when five-spice powder was probably not all
that common even in New York.

Victor