Chapter 346 - 188: What Is a Perfect Fish-Fragrant Shredded Pork?

Chapter 346: Chapter 188: What Is a Perfect Fish-Fragrant Shredded Pork?

Zhou Yan brought three portions of glistening, crimson Fish-Fragrant Pork to the table.

It immediately captured everyone’s attention.

This was the final dish, the grand finale, and to everyone’s surprise, Zhou Yan had chosen Fish-Fragrant Pork.

Fish-Fragrant Pork is a home-style dish, comparable to Twice-Cooked Pork. Every family in Sichuan and Chongqing knows how to make it, but when it comes to the flavor—well, every cook has their own unique version.

After all, there’s no set recipe for a home-style dish.

Every home cook has their own flashes of inspiration. One day they might add a new ingredient, the next they might be missing a seasoning. As long as the dish makes it to the table, tastes decent, and goes well with rice, then it was a success.

But the Fish-Fragrant Pork Zhou Yan made today was different. Green threads of celtuce and black slivers of wood ear mushrooms accompanied shreds of pork coated in glistening red oil. The contrast against the white plate was a beautiful, vibrant combination of colors.

"We were just saying we wanted you to teach us how to make Twice-Cooked Pork," Wu Haiyan said with a smile. "But this Fish-Fragrant Pork looks amazing too! You should give us some pointers. Even if we only learn a fraction of your technique, our home cooking will taste so much better."

The other women, aunties and sisters-in-law alike, laughed and chimed in with their agreement.

"Of course," Zhou Yan nodded with a smile. "Ask me anything you want after we’ve eaten."

Zhou Weiguo scooted over a little. "Zhou Yan, come sit here," he said, beckoning him over.

"Alright, Uncle," Zhou Yan replied with a smile. He set the serving tray aside, grabbed a bowl and chopsticks, and sat down next to Zhou Weiguo.

"I was in a bit of a rush today, so the dishes are pretty simple. Nothing too fancy. I hope everyone’s enjoying it," Zhou Yan said, smiling at the group.

"You call this simple?! There are more than ten dishes, and they’re all loaded with meat!"

"Exactly! We can barely fit them all on the table."

"It all tastes amazing! Every single dish is delicious."

"Uncle, your cooking is a hundred times better than my mom’s!"

"Fanwa! Watch what you’re saying! Your mother has feelings, you know..."

"Hahaha~"

The compliments kept coming, even from the kids’ table.

It was clear that everyone was truly satisfied with the meal; the smiles on their faces didn’t lie.

The atmosphere at the Zhou Family gathering was wonderful. Everyone chatted happily, with no hint of competitiveness, and no one brought up any buzzkill topics.

Even the staple topic of pressuring people to get married, common at other family gatherings, was forbidden at the Zhou Family’s dinner table.

This was a rule set by the family matriarch.

At the dinner table, you could only discuss happy things. If you had nothing to say, you kept quiet. No forcing conversation.

If something truly needed to be discussed, it had to wait until after the meal.

Zhou Yan sat down. There was still plenty of food on the table.

Ji Hongtao looked at Zhou Yan and said with a smile, "Comrade Zhou, your culinary skills are incredible! You’re every bit as good as the old masters at the Rongcheng Restaurant! This Mapo Tofu is even better than the famous Chen Mapo Tofu in Rongcheng. I’ve already polished off two bowls of rice because of it."

"You’re too kind, Dean Ji. I still have a lot to learn," Zhou Yan said humbly.

"You youngsters are too modest," Ji Hongtao said, shaking his head. He looked at the freshly served Fish-Fragrant Pork. "Take this dish, for example. The Rongcheng Restaurant is right behind my house, and Fish-Fragrant Pork and Twice-Cooked Pork are their signature stir-fries. Every time I’m back, I have to take my wife and two kids there to eat."

"But look at your Fish-Fragrant Pork. The shreds are perfectly separated, and the oil is glistening.

"’Separated shreds’ means the pork and vegetables aren’t sticking to each other. Some chefs’ pork ends up in clumps because they’re too heavy-handed with the cornstarch slurry, and all you taste is a mouthful of paste.

"And the ’glistening oil’ standard is what we call a ’single line of oil.’ The ring of oil around the dish shouldn’t be wider than a thin line, making it moist but not greasy.

"The accompanying vegetables aren’t a random mix of things—just wood ear mushrooms and celtuce.

"The sweet and sour aroma is completely authentic. That is the true ’fish-fragrant’ profile.

"My Old Man is good friends with Mr. Zhang from their back kitchen; he’s the one who told me about these standards.

"In the entire kitchen of the Rongcheng Restaurant, there are fewer than five chefs who can make Fish-Fragrant Pork to this standard. So what’s there to be modest about?"

Ji Hongtao’s detailed critique left everyone at the table stunned.

The sweet and sour aroma, carried on the steam, suddenly seemed even more fragrant than before.

"You truly understand this dish," Zhou Yan said with a smile. Dean Ji’s critique was spot-on.

Fish-Fragrant Pork might be a home-style dish, but once it appears on a restaurant menu, it comes with certain standards.

The ideal cut of meat is the ’second knife’ pork butt, which has a thirty-seventy fat-to-lean ratio. Most restaurants use pure lean tenderloin, but by comparison, the ’second knife’ cut is more tender and results in a more succulent stir-fry.

The pork is cut into thick matchsticks and marinated beforehand with salt and a broad bean starch slurry.

The classic accompaniments for this dish are celtuce and wood ear mushrooms. In winter, when celtuce is unavailable, winter bamboo shoots are sometimes used as a seasonal substitution.

There are many regional variations, not just between the north and south of China, but even between Sichuan and Chongqing themselves.

In Mountain City, most versions of Fish-Fragrant Pork only use scallions, with no other vegetables, for a purer, more focused flavor.

He used celtuce and wood ear mushrooms today. This was the last of the season’s celtuce, and it was getting a bit old. Zhou Yan had bought two pounds of it, but after peeling and shredding, he only managed to get enough for three servings.

With the weather growing colder, he would have to consider using winter bamboo shoots for the dish soon.

A crucial aspect of choosing accompaniments for Fish-Fragrant Pork is that they must not overpower the signature ’fish-fragrant’ flavor, which is why the chosen ingredients are always ones with a relatively mild taste of their own.

The real difficulty of this dish lies in the seasoning. The fish-fragrant sauce is a mixture of sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, chopped scallions, starch slurry, and water. The proportions are incredibly precise; the slightest mistake can make the dish too sweet or too sour.

Back when Zhou Yan was making restaurant-review videos, he’d often run into bad versions of ’fish-fragrant’ dishes. They were either cloyingly sweet or so sour they made his teeth ache. Not many chefs could get the balance of flavors just right.