Chapter 942: Chapter 397: Baked Carp with Noodles, Yanjin... Oh No, Yinzhou Style! What a Perfect Combo! [Monthly Ticket Requested]

In front of the fish tank, Shu Yun walked over holding Dundun, smiling and asking:

"Which one is the fish that Chen caught? I heard it’s a giant."

Chen Yan silently pouted, thinking it would have been better not to have caught anything at all, rather than catching a small fish and being laughed at all the way, and possibly by this group of sarcastic friends in the future as well.

Sigh, unlucky to meet the wrong people, careless in making friends.

She was just about to take out the small fish she caught and throw it away, out of sight, out of mind, but then she found that it was nowhere to be seen.

What happened?

Where’s my catch?

"The boss took it to make grilled fish for Dundun, saying your fish is just right for Dundun to eat. Dundun, quickly thank aunty for catching a big fish for you."

Chen Yan gave Dundun a sidelong glance.

This little guy is behind all this mischief, wait till next time I catch you, see how I tussle with you!

But thinking about it seriously, the big fish others caught weren’t suitable for Dundun, only my small fish was just right, doesn’t this just prove that classic saying among anglers:

Fishing for big fish is just for fun, the truly delicious ones are the small river fish.

Hmm, I caught the tastiest fish in the whole river right away, shouldn’t I feel proud?

Xie Baomin arrived quickly, Lin Xu had just finished the call when he drove over with his wife and kids.

"Wow, Aunt Yueyue’s fish is so big, amazing!"

"Aunt Xiaoqi’s fish is also quite big, I heard this type of bighead carp is very strong in the water."

Xie Yufei and Xie Yuhang were drawn to the fish tank, fascinated by the fishes inside. Seeing such big fish in the market is not rare, but catching them in a small creek, adds a wild touch.

Xie Baomin was quite envious, especially after hearing that during fishing they also helped Ren Jie catch an armed criminal, he regretted not being there:

"If I had known you were fishing, we would have come over at noon too, but instead, with no place to go, we just ended up taking a nap at the cinema with the kids."

Movies these days are like jokes, their only function seems to be helping people sleep.

When Xie Baomin woke up, he thought he was the only one who dozed off, but as he turned around, he saw half of the adults were asleep, while the kids were the ones watching with interest.

At this time, Lin Xu had also finished kneading the dough for making noodles, covering it with plastic wrap to rest.

Seeing Xie Baomin, he asked:

"Since you’re here, should we start making the pickled fish?"

"Start, let’s scoop out all the crucian carp from inside. Making pickled fish is simple, just fry and then braise, since you can make crispy ribbon fish, this won’t be difficult for you." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Lin Xu took a net, scooping out all the crucian carps regardless of their size.

Crucian carp is bony, generally the small ones are deep-fried directly, the bigger ones are made into soup, as other methods have too many bones that easily choke.

And pickled fish is a way to handle the many bones of crucian carp.

The finished crucian carp can be eaten from head to tail, with no bones at all, the fish bones entirely dissolve in the mouth, and if eaten when cooled, it tastes even better, with chewy meat, perfect with alcohol.

In some places, they even put it in a bun, the crispy and tasty way to eat it is particularly satisfying.

Upstairs, Xie Baomin washed his hands and said:

"For making pickled fish, normally just remove the gills and innards, don’t scrape the scales. In some places, they don’t even remove the gills, but I can’t accept that, I think it’s better to remove the gills."

He rinsed these live fish with clear water, trying to wash off the mud and impurities on the scales, then knocked on the fish head, cutting from the belly to the head with scissors.

Cut open to remove the innards and gills, along with any black membrane inside.

After cleaning up, he rinsed them again, classifying the crucian carps, putting the small ones together and the big ones together.

"Why separate them, brother?"

"Normally, pickled fish is made with these small crucian carps, but since you caught some big ones, we can make them together. Big crucian carp is mature, with solid fish bones, needing longer frying to make the meat crispy, while small crucian carp has softer bones, not needing intense frying."

Separating them for frying allows better control of the heat.

After sorting, he set up the oil pan, heating it to fifty percent before starting to fry the fish one by one.

Wei Qian came over to take a look:

"Hey, won’t the fish be fishy if you don’t remove the scales?"

Zhu Yong chimed in:

"No, it won’t. In the southern rice-producing regions, they make rice field fish without scaling. Even when cooking fresh fish, if there’s deep frying or pan frying involved, they don’t scale either."

In most places, when cooking scaled fish, people habitually scrape off the scales.

Without scraping, it somehow feels unhygienic, hard to get over that mental hurdle.

But for those used to eating fish with scales, frying scaled carp and crucian carp not only gives crispy skin, but also ensures during cooking, it won’t stick to the pan or burn.

The thick scales form a protective layer, keeping the fish meat tender inside.

Meanwhile, the scales themselves become crispy and flavorful when exposed to hot oil.

Zhuang Yizhou turned to Wei Qian curiously:

"I remember pickled fish is a specialty of Shandong, haven’t you had it?"

Wei Qian shook his head:

"It always looked dirty to me, so I felt pork is tastier... But as Chef Xie is making it, I must try some later."

This guy, due to his family’s pig slaughtering business since childhood, believes pork is the best food in the world and won’t accept any argument.