Hello everyone
Recently, the weather is getting cold, and it’s getting closer to Chinese new year
thus today I’ll be sharing a dish with you guys, fish ball hotpot
Other than drinking the fish ball soup, you could also boil some veggies in it as well
it’s not easy to catch this fish
Did Qi Erwa catch it?
Yes, she did it, and she actually fell down when she was catching the fish
she fell into the field?
Yes
She was so cold that she shivered when she got out of the field
This fish is truly hard to catch
we can start now
This fish is huge
Because it’s caught in field, as a wild fish it’s much tastier,
It might be around 4 Jin (2 kilograms)
Yep
First, we fillet the meat
cut the fish tail too
This part is similar to pork ribs
Cut it slowly
after that, cut it vertically
Is it right?
Yes
Okay
Cut it slantly from the middle of the fish meat
but don’t cut it all the way through, cut it more horizontally when you reach the fish skin
and move the knife left and right, then you can fillet the fish easily
cut some of the reddish meat off
so that the fish balls made can have a more whitish colour and look more appetizing
it also helps to reduce some fishy smell
Alright, now we have already removed the red meat
Let's start to prepare the fillets, cut them into small pieces
and use water to clean them multiple times
okay, now we’re cleaning them several times
you have to clean them well, look, the water have became turbid
that’s its blood
rinse off its blood
put them over here and wash them again
After washing the meat, we can start to marinate it now
prepare a chunk of ginger and some green onions
we need to cut the ginger first
Uncle, do you know what is it?
Blender for making fish balls
Hey, how could you be so smart?
It just looks like a blender
We don't need that much of green onions
tie it to make a knot
put the ginger and green onions into the blender
add some water
around 2-3 liang (100-150grams)
close the lid and blend them into liquid
This works quickly
Then, marinate the fish meat with the liquid
We could use all of them, it’s okay to have a bit more
Many people make fish balls themselves and the fish balls have strong fishy taste
This step is very important
it is crucial
Marinate for 10 minutes to make it flavorful and reduce the fishy taste
Okay, it’s been more than 10 minutes now
we could take it out and rinse it
rinse it
Just like this and put it inside
If you have high standards for the colour of the fish balls, you could wash it a few more times
Rinse off all the green liquid
now we add some cold water, the water has to be cold enough
to prevent the heat from reducing the bounciness of fish balls in the process of high-speed blending
It’s done
We have high efficiency now
using this machine is faster than using knife
it only takes 2-3 minutes
for knife, it takes 40 minutes which wastes too much time
so I choose to use blender
Wow, it is so smooth
Now we add some egg white
Add it directly into the fish paste
it depends on you regarding the quantity of egg white(s)
it could be one, three or even four egg whites, I’m gonna add four egg whites today
Place the egg yolks aside, we could use them for another dish
okay, mix them well first
I want to make some really bouncy fish balls today
so less water is added
add 3-4 grams of salt
add the salt in several times with less quantity each, don't add them all at once
and mix it like this for 1o minutes
Finished !
That doesn't count
Look! This could hold for 10 seconds, that’s enough
Did you see that? it holds its shape
This is good enough, it holds its shape for 10 seconds
Now starting to shape the fish balls
To determine the fish balls are successful or not, they have to be able float in water
we also need to grease the spoon with oil to avoid the fish balls sticking to the spoon
ready to shape the fish balls now
don’t make it too big, because they will become bigger later
umm? Why didn't it sink?
It’s floating
It means that air is beaten into the fish paste
and that’s it?
Yes, that’s it
Cool, the third one
hehe, it’s kinda strange
The fourth one
Your hands will be very sore
If you have never made it before
Who invented this method?
It’s Chinese invention
you have to know that we have few thousand years of food-related cultural history
How is it possible that we don’t have any Kungfu (technical skills)
Okay, we are ready to cook now
heat up the wok and add some oil
we don't need your Kuanyou(literally "broad oil") this time, uncle
you could use any kind of oil
don't put too much
There is no big difference between ‘yours’ and ‘mine’, your stuff is also considered mine
Yep, hehe
Now we heat the oil and add some salt into the wok
to avoid fishy taste while preventing the fish bone from breaking into pieces when we are frying it
Okay , the oil is hot enough now, add the fish bone
add some ginger when frying the fish head
put the green onions later when you boil the fish
fry it slowly
we only need to fry one side of the fish until it becomes golden and is aromatic
add some hot water to cook the fish soup
Uncle, increase the heat please
Okay great, I'll increase the heat
Now we’ll be waiting for the fish soup
The water is boiling now, we need to remove the scum
and add some green onions to cook it together
when the soup turns whitish, take out the green onions
and it’s ready to drop the fish balls in
before that, season the soup first
otherwise the fish balls will break into pieces when you stir the soup after adding the salt
add some salt
Uncle, please hold this, I’ll take out the fish balls
The heat can be smaller in this situation
take them out and put into the wok carefully
Boil as many fish balls as you want, cooking the fish balls while eating them at the same time
Right, it’s done here
Let me spoon up some fish balls to let my uncle have a taste test
it takes around 10 minutes to boil the fish balls
because the fish balls are smaller in size this time
the time needed for them to be cooked is shorter
it’s definitely cooked
Yes, not raw at all, completely cooked
This is where your hard work pays off
Amazing!
It is very easy to chew, suitable for elderly and someone who has dental problems
It is really delicious, just like tofu pudding that is extremely tender
Is it?
Yes
Let me have another bowl of fish balls
Auntie, come here to eat fish balls
So tender
It’s so tender
Umm just like tofu
Yep
it’s very suitable for those who have dental problems and children as well
Because the fish bones have been blended
Look! It’s so tasty
Aunt, eat more
It doesn’t have any extra additives, only salt, ginger, green onions and some egg whites
Alright, that's it for today, bye-bye
Enjoy your meal