🍽️ Jingzhou Fish Cake

Minced fish steamed into cake.

Jingzhou Fish Cake is a traditional famous dish of Jingzhou, Hubei, one of the representatives of Chu cuisine. Fresh grass carp or silver carp is deboned and minced into a fish paste, mixed with egg white, starch and diced fat, whipped until springy, then steamed into a solid block. It turns snowy white and tender as tofu yet with the springy bite of fish; sliced, it can be steamed, simmered in soup or braised with wood ear and sliced pork. The fish flavor is clean and light with no muddy taste, smooth and delicate, and it is a fixture on Jingzhou banquet and festival tables, symbolizing 'abundance year after year.' Refined knife work and steaming are key, and a freshly made fish cake best shows the tender, springy flavor of this fishing region.