There is a delicacy in Chaoshan, Guangdong called "fish rice". Why is it called "fish rice" when there is obviously no rice?

This is where Shanshan and her three girls love life, photography, travel and food.

Fish is a very common ingredient on the Chinese dining table. Different regions have different cooking methods for fish, such as boiled fish, steamed fish, grilled fish, braised fish, sweet and sour fish, fried fish, etc. Fish...etc., different cooking methods not only reflect local characteristics, but also reflect local history and culture. Recently, the three girls Shanshan traveled to the Chaoshan area and tasted a local "fish" "special way of eating: fish rice."

If you have never heard of or eaten "fish rice", you may The misunderstanding that "fish rice" is a meal that combines "fish and rice" is actually a misunderstanding. So, what is the real "fish rice"? When traveling in the Chaoshan area, the three girls Shanshan looked like they used to. Just like my trip, I walked into the "freshest" place in the local area: the vegetable market, where I got to know Chaoshan's "fish rice".

Fish rice is actually fish, cooked with fresh sea water or salt water. . Chaoshan people call this kind of fish fish rice, which means "fish as rice". Cooking fish like cooking and eating fish like eating raise "fish" to the same important status as "rice", which expresses The "sea" culture in Chaoshan area. So, what does fish rice look like? When Shanshan and her three girls wandered around the local wet market in Chaoshan, they could see stalls selling "fish rice" in almost every market. I saw small bamboo baskets placed in front of these stalls. The bottoms of the small bamboo baskets were covered with a thin layer of coarse salt, and fish were placed on top of the salt. Different baskets contained different fish, including Balang. There are fish, blackhead fish, nugget, red fish, salmon, squid, parrot fish, saury, and some stalls also have shrimps and squids... Take a closer look at the fish in the basket and the arrangement. The fish tails are placed in the middle, and the fish heads are arranged one by one on the edge. It looks very good and makes the three girls Shanshan want to taste it.

Chaozhou area is at the "end of the province and the country." "The location is very remote, with less land and more people. Historically, the rice produced was insufficient. In the past, rice was very precious in the Chaoshan area. But most Chaoshan people live towards the sea. The local area is rich in seafood and they eat by the sea. Sea, so eating seafood is a common thing. When a large amount of fish is caught ashore, it is not easy to sell it far away. Chaoshan fishermen try to avoid how to keep the fish fresh, so they come up with the idea of ??making "fish rice".

Initially, fishermen sorted the fish after catching and cooked the fish directly in sea water without adding seasonings. They could eat it directly. This method was simple and crude, maximizing the It can not only satisfy hunger but also facilitate storage. The excess fish rice can also be transported to other places and sold to earn income. It can be seen that the position of fish rice is as important as that of rice. It is also caused by the environment. Over time, fish rice has gradually become a part of Chaoshan food culture.

So, how is fish rice made? Most people in Chaoshan follow the " The method of "one fresh, two cooked, three dried, four salted and five pickled". Fish rice is processed using the "two cooked" method: the first step is to select the fish. These fish should not be broken, scaled or gills removed, and they should be cooked with clean water. Rinse, sort, put the washed fish into salt water, and soak for 20 minutes; in the second step, use a special bamboo basket to hold the fish, and after each fish is placed, sprinkle a layer of salt on the fish. , then put a fish in a crosswise manner, sprinkle salt, put the fish tail in the middle and the head on the edge, so that the fish soup can penetrate into the fish when cooking, so that the fish can be heated evenly; the third step, put the bamboo filled with fish Place the basket on the hanger, use a hook to sink the hanger into the boiling salt water, boil it for 15 minutes, and then take it out. Then pour the salt water in the pot or the re-boiled pure salt water on the fish noodles that are taken out. This can remove impurities; the fourth step is to tilt the fish rice and bamboo basket on a stainless steel rack in a ventilated place for 4 hours to let the soup in the bamboo basket flow out. After drying, the delicious fish rice is ready.

The traditional fish rice in Chaoshan area is fresh and cheap fish. Because these fish are caught in large quantities, it is not easy to sell them. They can only be made into fish rice and sold to further places. However, with the improvement of people's living standards, some restaurants will make fish rice from high-end fish such as star spot and sumei, which greatly enriches the "fish rice" experience.

Fish meat cooked in sea water or salt water brings out the "freshness" of the fish to the fullest, forming a unique sweetness. Different ways of eating will give you different tastes; different people can eat the best fish rice by eating in different ways:

The first one, Chaoshan locals eat this in order to taste "Xian" means unheating the fish rice, opening it from the middle, and eating the fish meat in the middle directly. In their words: Fish rice, the word "fresh" is the first word, and you can eat it with the original taste!

The second, more classic way to eat fish rice is as a side dish to white porridge. A good fish rice has intact scales and fins, white and firm fish meat, and a sweet and slightly salty taste. It is not salty when eaten on an empty stomach, and it is not bland when paired with white porridge.

The third type is that when many outsiders try fish rice for the first time, they find it tasteless, and they can’t stand the fishy smell of the fish rice! At this time, you can eat it with soy sauce or Puning bean paste. Chaoshan people like to drink porridge. A small plate of fish rice + Puning bean paste is a classic breakfast in Chaoshan area. It is absolutely authentic Chaoshan flavor!

The fourth method is to wash the fish and rice and fry it in oil before eating. The surface of the fish and rice is a little burnt and exudes a unique fragrance. At this time, no matter how scared you are, People who don't like fish and rice will also feel the "freshness" of fish and rice.

In the hot summer, cook a pot of porridge, go to the market to pick up a basket of "fish rice", and then prepare a pot of wine, a family, a group of friends, get together, the beauty of life , that’s all.