I’ve had an urge to try something different, to cook something that’s mostly unusual to our typical palette. And so, I thought I’d try my run at making Sour Vegetable Fish Pot (Suan Cai Yu), a traditional dish from Huiyang Chinese cuisine. What the hell is Huiyang cuisine? I asked the exact same thing, so here’s what I found out.
Huiyang cuisine is actually considered by many as one of the four most influential styles that make up the heritage of Chinese cuisine, the others being Cantonese, Sichuan, and Shandong cuisine. I wasn’t familiar with Huiyang cuisine, in fact, I didn’t ever recall having it during my stay in China. But after some research, I discovered that Huiyang cuisine is widely eaten, pretty mainstream, and reflected in the Chinese foods we eat here in North America. Duck egg porridge, pot stickers, shao mai, and even Yangzhou fried rice - that’s right, it’s Huiyang cuisine.
I was first introduced to Sour Vegetable Fish Pot by my girlfriend’s family. It takes some getting use to, but it’s basically a giant soup pot filled with pickled cabbage (suan cai – aka Chinese “sauerkraut”), fish slices, and cellophane noodle. I consider it “comfort food” and a dish that’s perfect for the winter time with a spicy kick to it, almost like a bowl of chili but without the tomato taste. I bought a mix package from the grocery store, and it’s really easy to make. Give it a try and let me know what you think! Have you tried something different?
Directions:
- Cook up the Suan Cai cabbage in a bit of oil until fragrant
- Pour in some water (about 1.5L) and the soup mix
- Once boiling, put in the fish slices
- You can put in the cellophane noodles a bit after
- Once it boils again, it’s done! The fish slowly cooks in the hot water to give it an awesome slippery texture
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i never knew what the other types of chinese cuisine were well now i do guess i’m pretty ignorant just assumed everything was all chinese haha
great post:)