Sharing Homemade Recipes for Wuhan's Famous Fish Balls (Zhaigua)

Ingredients for pickling: 1 grass carp (about 2 lbs), 2 tablespoons of Sichuan peppercorns (30g), 1 teaspoon of salt (5g), 10 dried red chilies, 2 tablespoons of ginger paste (30g), 2 tablespoons of garlic paste (30g), a small bunch of green onion, 1 tablespoon of cooking wine (15ml)
Frying ingredients: 1 tablespoon of soy sauce (15ml), 1 tablespoon of vinegar (15ml), 1 teaspoon of sugar (5g)

Instructions:

1) Clean the grass carp by removing scales, internal organs and wash it thoroughly. Cut off the head and then cut the fish body into uniform pieces of about 6cm, put it into a large bowl.
2) Add chopped green onion, ginger, garlic, dried red chilies, then pour in Sichuan peppercorns and cooking wine, and mix evenly.

3) Put the fish together with the marinade into a sealed bag, seal the mouth, and put it into the freezer for 7 days.

4) After 7 days, take out the marinated fish blocks and let them thaw naturally. When the fish is thawed to half dry, peel off the marinade from the fish body and put it into a small bowl.

5) Heat a little oil in a pot over medium heat, when it reaches 70% hot, fry the fish, ('' is a Wuhan term, meaning 'fry'), fry the fish until its surface is golden brown, take it out.

6) Pour the marinade from the marinated fish into the pot, add soy sauce and sugar, and a little cool water. Boil over high heat for 20 seconds, then flip the fish back into the pot, cover the pot and simmer for 2 minutes, open the lid over high heat to reduce the sauce, before serving, add a few drops of vinegar, serve in a dish and sprinkle with some sesame.

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