Pictorial: Dace Fish Cake with Lettuce in Soup

[hzrt8w]

Pictorial Recipe

Dace Fish Cake with Lettuce in Soup (生菜鯪魚球)

In the streets of Hong Kong, there are two popular street eats: Fried Dace fishball, and Dace fishballs with lettuce boiled in soup. I am presenting both dishes here as they are quite similar. You may also add tofu and Chinese mustard greens to make the soup.

They are very simple to make.

Picture of the finished dish:

Serving Suggestion: 2-3

Preparations:

Main ingredients (lower left, clockwise):

- 1 container of fresh fish cake, about 1 lb (you may also use other kind of fish cakes)

- cilantro, about 10-12

- 3-4 stalks of green onions

- 1/4 head of lettuce

Chop the lettuce into fine shreds.

Finely chop the cilantro and green onions.

Cooking Instructions:

To make the fried version, heat up a small pot over high setting on the stove. Add 1/2 cup of frying oil. Note: To add more fragrance, use a mix of 2/3 frying oil with 1/3 of sesame oil.

Scoop up the fish cake with a large spoon and spoon off into the hot oil.

Fry the Dace fish cake for a few minutes until the outside turns golden brown.

Meanwhile, use another pot to boil 2 cans of chicken broth.

(Sorry about the blurry picture.)

To make the boil version (maybe half and half), simply boil the Dace fish cake in small pieces in the broth.

To assemble the dish, use a medium size soup bowl. Lay the shredded lettuce on the bowl.

Lay the fried or boiled Dace fish on top of the lettuce. The heat from the boiling soup will cook the lettuce.

Quickly pour the boiling soup in the bowl. Before serving, add the chopped cilantro and green onions on top. Add some (go heavy) ground white pepper and drizzle a few drops of sesame oil on top.

Picture of the finished dish.

[debbster]

thanks for this! it's so easy to make and the taste is just lovely. it'll be on my dinner menu tonight. i used featherback fish paste (i've not seen dace sold here.) and added some chinese cabbage. my broth is a combination of chicken, pork and beef.