braised grouper belly 紅燒班腩

There are many Chinese dishes in which the translation to English tends to - lets say lost in translation. For braising there are many words in Chinese depends on the manner how it is done, high heat or low heat, and the duration.

I was out and about across the river on the other side of town. Even though I was not in need of grocery I decided to check into Fubonn Market to see what they have. I don't go there much these days because of the extra distance and the traffic along the 82th avenue.


Fubonn has a fish section and you can find a good assortments of unusual fish there. I don't general buy fish from them as most of the time they are not as good as I would like. This time they have something I've never seen in Portland. Two big red groupers from Mexico. Each must weight in about 18 pounds. Immediately I knew I want to buy a piece of meat to cook a dish that I have been wanting to when the needed ingredient turns up. The dish is braised grouper belly 紅燒班腩 in Cantonese style. 紅燒班腩 translated as grouper belly braised in high heat.

one of the two big grouper

In the world there are many variety of groupers. They range from around 1 pound to the giant one weighting in a few hundred pounds. Generally the one over a few pound are not cooked as whole but only portions are used. Often the meat is fillet and slice into bite size slices for stir fry. For the lessor cuts they are cut into chunks often with bone, skin, and a bit of the fin. These are used to cook this dish. The truth is for knowledgeable foodies this dish is often preferred over those made with boneless fillets.

i bought this piece cut near the belley - i have to use a cleaver to cut through the vertibrate and it required a determined swing

 a pound is enough for two meals

Unfortunately I could not take photos while I cook. The process involves coating the fish with a bit of egg and sprinkle on some dry corn starch. Then the fish is briefly fried in oil in low temperature in a technique called 過油. This half cook the fish first. Then it is fried briefly with ginger, scallions and seasoning added. It is then cooked with sufficient liquid with a lid placed on the wok to allow the big chunks of fish to cook through as well as becomes tender. By this time the seasoning also infuses the meat 入味 . I use a few dashes of Shaoxing rice wine 紹ｆ興花彫洒.

As the liquid reduces and the corn starch also thickens the sauce, and the dish is ready. For this dish I like to use over the top amount of ginger. I should have use a lot more scallions as well. Customarily this is an entree that is best eaten with a bowl of good plain rice.

the picture does not do the dish justice - the black bits are shitake mushroom

 here you can see the meaty pieces

it happens that my local PBS affiliate has this Great American Seafood Cookoff shortly after my meal

it turned out to be just a reality TV cooking show which I hate - i have been wanting to write a post about TV cooking shows

and yes, the panel picked the winner and they call it America's greatest seafood chef or something like that - so pointless

this dish taste even better the next day - i added a lot of scallions and added this lettuce-like vegetable called "A choy"