Crucian carp

The crucian carp, a small round-bodied freshwater fish with sweet flesh and many fine bones, best handled in a soup bag. Wiped dry and fried with ginger to deep gold — the essential step — it boils into a famously milky, sweet broth with papaya, daikon or rice beans. Small enough that one or two fish make a family pot.

TCM properties

Nature · neutral　Flavour · sweet　Meridians · spleen、stomach、large intestine

Traditional food therapy

In Cantonese food therapy crucian carp is used to strengthen the spleen, dispel dampness, open the appetite and harmonise the centre, with a long folk tradition of serving it to nursing mothers.

Cautions — read first

• Full of fine bones, so use a soup bag to strain them out and guard against choking, especially for the old and the young
• Those with gout should take care with rich, milky fish soups

Preparation

Clean it and pat it dry, then fry it with ginger until both sides are golden before boiling (this is the key to a milky soup); tie it up in a fish soup bag.

Origin

華中、華南淡水塘養 — Confirmed not observed in AU retail; whole snapper, Indian mackerel or tilapia are the observed substitutes

Availability in Australia

Common at Asian grocers

Pairs well with