Pan-Fried Ribbonfish (香煎带鱼) | Chinese Hairtail Recipe

Pan-fried ribbonfish (香煎带鱼, xiangjian daiyu), scored down the back, floured, and finished with a splash of vinegar and soy. Serves 2 | about 20 minutes | no step is timed, fry each side to gold Hairtail dusted with flour and fried until both sides are golden. Drying the fish and heating the pan first keeps the skin from sticking. 带鱼 is the hairtail, sold in English as beltfish or cutlassfish: a long flat ribbon of a fish that reaches most shops frozen and already cut into segments. Plenty of cooks scrape the silver off the skin because they think it tastes strong. This recipe leaves it on, where it is thin enough to fry into the crust, and scraping tears the skin anyway. The bones run in one flat row down the middle, so the flesh lifts away in two clean strips and this ends up an easy fish to eat. INGREDIENTS (serves 2) ribbonfish (hairtail), cut into segments flour, for dusting salt, to taste vinegar, a little soy sauce, a little scallion, for garnish METHOD 1. Rinse the ribbonfish in cold water and pat dry, leaving the silver film on. 2. Score the back with a shallow cut. 3. Dust with a thin layer of flour. 4. Sprinkle with salt and rub in. 5. Heat the pan until a drop of water beads, then add oil. 6. Lay the fish flat and fry one side golden. 7. Turn once and fry the other side golden. 8. When the skin is crisp and set, add vinegar and soy sauce. 9. Plate and scatter scallion over. Tip: dry the fish and get the pan hot before the oil goes in, or the skin sticks and tears. It keeps a day in the fridge and gets eaten cold about as often as hot, with rice or congee. A dry pan brings the skin back. A microwave turns it soft and makes the whole flat smell of fish. Subscribe:    / @kitchencatalogtv   More recipes:    / @kitchencatalogtv   #Ribbonfish #Chinese #KitchenCatalog #Daiyu #PanFried