Braised Fish Head

Ingredients

• 1 fish head
• 200 g spring onion
• 80 g ginger
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 0.25 beauty pepper
• 4 sprigs coriander
• 2 star anise
• 5 dried chilli
• 30 ml oil
• 7 g salt
• 15 g soy sauce
• 3 g dark soy sauce
• 15 g rice wine
• 2 g black pepper powder
• 3 g chicken essence
• 3 g rice vinegar
• 500 ml water

Method

Prep the aromatics first. Slice ginger to 3 mm thickness — this matters because thin ginger releases its volatile oils quickly without becoming fibrous. Cut spring onion whites into 4 cm segments and greens into thin slivers. Crush garlic cloves by hand rather than mincing; whole cloves stay intact during the braise and release flavour gradually. Halve the beauty pepper lengthways and slice into rings. Snap dried chillies into four segments each — leave the seeds in for heat penetration. Keep two coriander sprigs whole for the braise itself; finely chop the rest for garnish.

Butcher the fish head cleanly. Scale it thoroughly, remove the fins and gills, then cut through the connection between jaw and body. Chop the head into four to six pieces and the body into chunks; you want surface area for flavour absorption but pieces large enough to hold together during cooking. Rinse away all blood and viscera under cold water — this prevents a muddy, fishy undertone. Marinate the fish with 5 g salt, 10 g soy sauce, 10 g rice wine, green spring onion slivers and a third of the ginger slices for 1–2 hours. Salt denatures the proteins on the surface, allowing the marinade to penetrate; the acid and umami compounds begin the braise before heat even enters.

Heat 30 ml oil in a wok on low heat, then add ginger slices and stir constantly until they turn golden and most juice is released — the aromatics are rendering their flavour into the oil. Add spring onion whites and fry until their edges pale slightly. Add garlic, star anise and chilli, stirring for 5 seconds to bloom the aromatics. Pour in the marinated fish and stir gently for 2–3 minutes to coat in the infused oil, then add 500 ml water with the remaining salt, chicken essence, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice wine, black pepper and vinegar. The acid sharpens the umami without dominating.

Add the two whole coriander sprigs, cover and bring to a boil on high heat. Drop to medium and simmer until the liquid reduces by half — roughly 15–20 minutes depending on your wok — then uncover and crank to high heat. Reduce the sauce until only one-third of liquid remains, concentrating the braising liquid into a glossy coating. The braise succeeds when the fish flakes at the gills and the sauce clings. Transfer to a bowl, arrange whole coriander at the base, pour the fish and sauce over, top with chopped coriander and beauty pepper rings.