Stinky mandarin fish is the cloud-piercing arrow that calls Anhui people to

There is no lower limit in the competition of smelly delicacies. If we only consider the dimension of "stink", stinky mandarin fish can win out among the vast majority of dark dishes.

It is hard to imagine that the people of Anhui had the spare energy to open the second technology tree after inventing Huizhou stinky tofu.

Similar to durian, people who like or hate it represent the two extremes of taste evolution.

The lingering smell lingered around the market and transformed into a charming little hand in the air. Some scholars who were ignorant of the customs were still able to enter Beijing, but most ordinary students would be unexpectedly drained after coming into contact with it.

Sinking is sometimes a kind of relief.

"Only when I eat stinky mandarin fish, the Anhui blood in me, who has lived in Beijing for many years, will be instantly awakened."

"After eating the stinky mandarin fish, the cats in the neighborhood followed me all the way. I am afraid of cats, so the more they grumbled, the faster I walked. When I got home and looked back, I found that at least one reinforced company was following me."

We can find clues from the many praises about this fierce dish. Stinky mandarin fish is the Michelangelo that comes to mind for many diners when their blood sugar drops.

It knows how to rescue people better than impromptu prayers and Snickers bars.

Some people can't stand the name of this dish. As one of the representatives of Anhui cuisine, stinky mandarin fish is often included in the check-in plan of friends from other places.

If you ignore the positive online reviews that may interfere with your judgment, go to any Anhui restaurant for an on-site blind test.

The confidence I had when I first walked in was quickly shattered by an invisible aura. The miraculous effect of quenching thirst by looking at the plum can be verified at the dinner table.

It is the top dish on all Anhui cuisine menus. Even if it is overshadowed by some other Jianghu dishes, it is still the most capable one among the palace servants.

In Anhui, some people may refuse stinky tofu, but few people can remain indifferent to stinky mandarin fish.

This is the key to unlocking the deep taste buds of Anhui people. Once opened, the tongue is no longer controlled by the brain.

Some people are captivated by the smell of the fish before it even reaches the table. The waiter is like an experienced bomber pilot, dragging a long airplane wire into the enemy's airspace. At this time, you only have two choices: either escape and die together with the fish, or surrender.

Life experiences will become rich and sweet after you convince yourself of your timidity.

Similar to most stinky dark dishes, "stinky" is just a term used to distinguish between friend and foe. It is like the red and blue above the heads of the kings in a river fight, and it is also like the warm and gray mentality before and after a confession.

Crossing the hurdle in your heart is often easier than you think when facing stinky mandarin fish.

Anyone who has the courage to try it will notice something strange the moment they pick up their chopsticks.

The stinky mandarin fish hiding in the plate is not as stinky as you might imagine.

It only has an extremely peculiar smell when it is in an unprocessed pickled state. After washing, frying in hot oil and cooking on a low fire, not only will the smell be much weakened, but it will also be extremely fresh and fragrant. This is an extremely special aroma, which is even more penetrating than your neighbor's WiFi signal.

This smell is beyond the experience of most of us. It is a complex and layered blend. Some people describe the taste of raw fish as a moldy tomato consecrating half-cooked stinky tofu in a large jar of soy sauce, and the taste after it becomes cooked food becomes a large jar of soy sauce filled with vanilla ice cream.

What you smell at the door and what you actually eat are the twin gourd brothers. They have clear positions and the same goals, but very different personalities.

Only the combination is the ultimate secret of stinky mandarin fish. Your nose may deceive you, but your tongue will not. It is rare to hear of someone vomiting after taking the first bite, unless the mouth is burned.

Some people surrender before they even open the disposable equipment on the table. The Anhui people, who are experienced in entertaining guests, will use chopsticks to quickly remove the vegetable decorations on the fish.

Start from the belly of the fish and fiddle with it slowly. The fish meat will be very obedient. After clamping it in pieces, dip it in the soup, blow on it twice and eat it quickly. The fish bones are concentrated in the dorsal fin, which is its greatest kindness to humans.

At this point, other competing products on the table have become redundant supporting roles, and the fish soup alone can go with two bowls of rice.

Being a chef may be one of the hardest jobs in the world.

As they live in places with a lot of cooking fires all year round, their sense of smell and taste will be weaker than that of ordinary people.

But fortunately, there is no way to cook stinky mandarin fish. In fact, the strong smell that it carries all year round will make people around respect them.

Since its creation, stinky mandarin fish has traveled all over the country with the footsteps of Huizhou merchants, and has since been continuously improved in combination with local cuisine.

The Hunan style of cooking stinky mandarin fish emphasizes spiciness, which removes the saltiness and increases the taste; the Nanjing style of cooking stinky mandarin fish emphasizes steaming techniques, which allows it to be eaten cold while maintaining the freshness of the ingredients; in some cities such as Shaoxing, Zhejiang, there is also a ruthless way of eating stinky mandarin fish by adding bracken for secondary fermentation.

Although there are many styles of stinky mandarin fish cuisine, the most basic core still lies in mandarin fish.

The greedy ancients praised the mandarin fish highly after tasting it. In fact, the fish meat is very delicious before it becomes smelly.

Zhang Zhihe once described in "Fisherman's Song" "White egrets fly in front of Xise Mountain, peach blossoms flow in the water and mandarin fish are fat". This delicacy that has run through history has been transformed from a dot of ink into a delicacy. Mandarin fish, along with puffer fish, knife fish and shad, are all representatives of fresh fish from the south of the Yangtze River.

Especially around the Qingming Festival every year, when peach blossoms are in full bloom and the spring flood arrives in the south of the Yangtze River, it is also the season when mandarin fish is the fattest. Mandarin fish in this period is called "peach blossom mandarin fish".

Gourmets will not miss this rare river delicacy, but at this moment, the mandarin fish is still one crucial step away from becoming a famous star.

For more than 200 years, fishmongers in Guichi, Tongling, Datong and other places along the Yangtze River in Anhui Province would transport mandarin fish in wooden barrels to the mountainous area of ​​Huizhou for sale at the beginning of winter every year. In order to prevent the fresh fish from deteriorating during transportation, they would sprinkle a layer of light salt water on each layer of fish and would frequently turn the fish upside down during the journey to ensure that they were evenly soaked in salt.

It takes seven or eight days for the fish to arrive in Tunxi and other places. The fish gills are still red, the scales and fins are intact, and the fish meat has not deteriorated. The only difference is that the skin emits a special smell that is neither smelly nor stinky.

The current processing methods continue the wisdom of the ancients.

The fish needs to be slaughtered alive, and the internal organs removed while retaining the blood stains. Then, they are stacked layer by layer in a camphorwood barrel and sprinkled with salt. After stacking five or six layers, a wooden lid is added and pressed down with a heavy object.

A special environment is formed in the barrel, and the wonderful microorganisms continue to ferment. Under the joint action of endogenous enzymes in the fish and microorganisms, the protein and other organic matter in the mandarin fish are degraded to produce small molecules such as free amino acids, free fatty acids and nucleotides. At the same time, the unforgettable taste begins to form.

The successful invention of a food ingredient is always based on solving a life dilemma.

The surprises it brings to people may also be used by some pioneers in cross-species experiments with the help of the muse of inspiration.

Stinky mandarin fish can be eaten in not only conventional ways, but also in hot pot and barbecue. It is said that in some places it is so popular that people have to queue for a long time to fulfill their wishes. Some people have even eaten dumplings stuffed with stinky mandarin fish.

There is even a combination with mooncakes, which is unexpected.

In Huizhou cuisine, there are not only weird dishes like stinky mandarin fish, but also Laba tofu and hairy tofu are also representatives of the "stinky" element in Huizhou cuisine.

The formation of a taste is not only a coincidence, but also the wisdom of the ancients trying to reconcile with nature.

The balance between fragrance and stench is difficult to strike; there is often only a fine line between them.

Source: Unrelated Research Institute