Stuffed dace, boned and filled back into its own skin

Ingredientsserves 6

Equipment

• A thin sharp knife and a cleaver, or two cleavers for the chopping. One cleaver only means slower; do not use a food processor, which turns the fish to mush
• A wide flat pan that takes the whole fish. Without one, buy a smaller fish: the pan decides the size of the fish
• A mixing bowl, chilled in the fridge first: a cold bowl helps the paste hold
• Fish-bone tweezers, or your fingertips and some patience

How the time splits

1. 1 hrSoak the mushrooms, dried shrimp and peelhands off
2. 40 minBone the fish: the frame comes out through the belly, and the skin, head and tail stay in one piecehands on
3. 20 minScrape, chop and beat the paste until it holdshands on
4. 15 minStuff it back into the skin and shape the fishhands on
5. 10 minFry both sideshands on
6. 10 minBraise in the black bean saucehands on

Method

1. Soak the mushrooms, dried shrimp and peel separately. Dice the mushrooms, chop the shrimp, scrape the pith from the peel and chop it fine. Dice the water chestnuts and chop the coriander.
2. Bone the fish. Open the belly, take out the insides, rinse and pat dry. Cut through the backbone just behind the head and just before the tail without cutting through the skin. Keeping the knife against the inside of the skin, work the flesh and bone away from it through the belly opening, and lift the whole frame out that way, leaving the head, skin and tail in one piece. What goes wrong here is the knife going through the skin: go slowly, and a small tear can be patched with paste later. The first time, expect one fish to tear, which is why you buy two.
3. Scrape the flesh off the frame, pick out the bones and chop it fine. Put it in the chilled bowl with the fish paste, the pork, 1 tbsp of the light soy, the pepper, ½ tsp of the cornflour and 2 tsp of oil. Stir in one direction, then lift the mass and slap it back into the bowl, again and again, until it holds: a spoonful turned upside down should not fall. Beaten too little, it falls out of the fish the moment it hits the pan. The bought paste is already seasoned, so fry a teaspoon to taste before you decide on salt. Fold in the shrimp, mushroom, peel, water chestnut and coriander last.
4. Dust the inside of the skin with cornflour, pack the paste back in, press it firm and shape it into the fish again, smoothing the surface. Roll any paste left over into small cakes and fry them alongside.
5. Heat the pan, add the oil and lay in the fish. Fry on a medium heat three to four minutes a side until golden. Turn it with two spatulas under it; one will break it.
6. Push the fish to one side and fry the black beans and garlic in the oil for twenty seconds. As soon as they smell, add the oyster sauce, 2 tsp of light soy, the dark soy and 150 ml of water: black beans turn bitter the moment they catch, so do not wait. Cover and braise on a low heat for eight to ten minutes, spooning the sauce over the fish once. Push a chopstick into the thickest part for ten seconds; it should come out too hot to hold. With a thermometer, the centre should read 71°C. If it does not, give it a few minutes more.
7. Add the sesame oil, lift the fish onto a plate, cut it into thick slices and pour the sauce over.

Take care

• Fish, crustacean (dried shrimp), pork, soy, wheat, sesame. Silver perch has larger bones: run your fingers through the flesh once it is off the frame. Dace fillets chopped at home carry many more fine bones, so check before children eat it. The paste has pork in it and must be cooked right through at the centre.

The story

The cleverness of 順德: a cheap river fish full of bones, taken apart and put back together so that you eat it without a single one. Ask a Cantonese cook what 功夫 means and this is often the first dish they name. Hong Kong kept it in 順德 restaurants and at a few market fish stalls that sold the fish ready stuffed to fry at home; very few people under sixty can bone one now. This page uses a fish you can buy in Australia. The fish has changed and the skill has not: the whole frame comes out through the belly and the skin does not break.

Same kind

Crackling roast pork bellyBraised shiitake in oyster sauceConpoy and whole garlic, steamed and turned out

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.