Ham Yeu

[Dejah]

ANY fish can be made into ham yu....

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I would like to see salted shark.

Whole.

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It's possible because the smallest shark is less than 10" long.

Don't you be cheeky with Ben Sook!

[Ben Hong]

Actually I have eaten salted shark (dogfish) that was salted whole, like the salt cod. Not mui herng though.

[jo-mel]

The teeny tiny fishies are best steamed in a dish on top of cooking rice.

"...teeny tiny fishies"?

Isn't it usually a slice from a larger fish like mackerel?

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No, we were referring to the whole "teeny tiny fishies" that are about 1 inch long. There are several varieties, some are translucent white, some are silver, some are miniatures of a fish. All are delicious done the way I suggested and eaten with a bowl of plain rice.

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Are those teeny tiny fish --- Whitebait Fish? Popular in the East - Wuhan and environs?

[aznsailorboi]

At the Vietnamese market that I go to, they're under the name "Dried Salted Silverfish". I've eaten them two ways, how Ben Sook described them, and the other way is mixed in with fried rice, my moms way . Both are really good, unfortunately its been banned from our home since my dad was diagnosed with high blood pressure about 8 yrs ago....my mom said she wont contribute to his "deterioriation"....so sweet

[trillium]

Are we talking about ikan belis now? Little dried fishies? We fry them until crunchy like a potato chip. A classic for nasi lemak, but that belongs in the "Other" section I suppose. The funny part is, we don't call those hum yu, that is reserved for the meaty salted fish, and the little guys go by their malay name. The partner refers to baccala as hum yu too, and that always makes me laugh.

regards,

trillium

[hzrt8w]

The little dried fish - the white color variety - is called "Bak Fan Yu" (white rice fish). Or some call them "ham yu jai" (small salted fish). They are not really salted, just sun dried. Unlike the salted fish, by themselves they taste rather bland. We usually cook (steam on top of rice or stir-fry) them with soy sauce to add some taste.

[canucklehead]

I stopped by my Uncle's today and he is trying to make his own Salted Preserved Fish. I love that strong anchovy flavor - and a little goes a long way in flavoring steamed pork patties, fried rice, or even just as an accompaniment to plain white rice. This uncle also has made his own soy sauce in the past.

He tooks some fish (salt water - but don't ask me what kind) - and salted them down with pickling salt and pressed as much liquid out as he could by placing the fish between wieghted trays. Rinse and then resalted them and has been drying them in the sun in a wicker basked with some tight wire mesh to keep the flies out. The above is the result after 5 days or so. It has a pleasant, mild anchovy smell right now - but will be subjected to additional sun drying to further preserve the flesh.

I am not sure if I want to be part of the first tasting - but my Uncle has been suprised by how easy the process has been so far.