Cinnabar Whitebait

This dish is one of the masterpieces of Mr. Ma Jinpeng, the chief master of Jinpeng cuisine. According to Mr. Ma, the main ingredient of this dish is whitebait which is one of Tianjin’s "Eight Treasures" and a specialty of Tianjin. The "eight treasures" are: whitebait, purple crab, iron bird, prawn, yellow sprout cabbage, leek, green radish, and pear. Among them, whitebait and purple crab are famous aquatic products at home and abroad. Whitebait is called ginseng among fish overseas, and it is regarded as a rare treasure. Tianjin whitebait is larger than Taihu whitebait, white as jade, tender and delicious, and it is endless in all seasons. It has tender flesh and no scales, and the whole body is translucent like jade. At the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, mature whitebait will swim in groups into the Haihe River, and then flock to the Sancha River Mouth to lay eggs. At this time, the eye circles of the whitebait also change from silver to gold, becoming golden-eyed silverfish. In Song Zhang Xian's poem, there is the phrase "whitebait frosted under the perch after spring", comparing the whitebait with the perch, which shows that as early as the Song Dynasty, the whitebait has been listed as a treasure among the fish. In the Ming Dynasty, the court of the Ming Dynasty set up a special division of "Whitebait Supervisor" in Tianjin, "Weihaibaiyu" to pay tribute to the capital. The "Song Family Health Department" published in the Hongzhi period recorded "whitebait should be noodles and fried", which means that dragging whitebait and frying it is one of the best cooking methods. Li Shizhen made a more detailed account of whitebait in "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Whitebait is especially heavy and small. It is exposed to dryness and has children, and the food is very beautiful. After Qingming, the child is thin, but It can be used as a silver ear." Zhou Chuliang in the Qing Dynasty praised whitebait in "Zhuzhi Ci of Jinmen": "Whitebait sauerkraut is contained in wine, and tastes like cucumber when used as soup. How precious is jade eye than golden eye, and Haihe is not as good as Wei Haiqiang."

According to modern nutritional analysis, whitebait is rich in nutrition, high in protein and low in fat. It is also suitable for patients with hyperlipidemia. It is believed that the whitebait does not remove the fins and bones, and is a "holistic food" with complete nutrition, which is beneficial to the body's immune function. Chinese medicine believes that whitebait is sweet in taste, flat in nature, tonic, invigorating the stomach, invigorating the lungs and diuresis. It is of great benefit to those with weak spleen and stomach and cough with lung deficiency. It can be seen that the treasure of whitebait is no exaggeration. Look at it, the color is pleasing to the eye; smell it, it is delicious and attractive, and the tongue produces fluid; eat it, it is delicious and delicious, and the teeth and cheeks are fragrant. There are many ways to eat whitebait, including fried, stir-fried, fried, steamed, stewed and stewed. Tianjin chefs cook various whitebait dishes such as stewed whitebait and Korean whitebait all year round. The most distinctive dish is this cinnabar whitebait. The deep-fried whitebait is fragrant and delicious, which is better than the soup.