Milkfish Soup

Ingredients

The fish

• 600 gmilkfish belly
• cut into pieces
• or milkfish fillet
• 1 teaspoonsalt

The broth

• 1.2 litreswater
• or light fish stock
• 8cm ginger, in fine julienne
• 3spring onions, cut in lengths
• 1 tablespoonrice wine
• salt and white pepper

To finish

• 1 tablespoonfried shallot
• a few coriander leaves
• a little sesame oil
• more julienned ginger

To serve

• at breakfast
• with plain rice
• or rice porridge

Directions

1. Cut it as finely as you can manage. Peel the ginger with a spoon edge. A spoon scrapes the thin skin off cleanly. Cut the peeled ginger into thin slices. Stack those slices and cut them into threads. Slice with the grain rather than across it. Cut the milkfish belly into pieces.
2. Cut them into pieces you can eat in two bites. Rub a little salt over the fish. Let it sit there for ten minutes. Salt firms the surface of the flesh. That helps it hold together in the broth.
3. Rinse the salt off under cold water. Pat all of the pieces dry after. Put the water into a heavy pot. Add most of the julienned ginger. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Simmering it takes about ten minutes. Let it simmer for about ten minutes. Milkfish belly is soft and breaks easily. Use a slotted spoon to place them.
4. Let it simmer for about four minutes. Fish cooks in minutes rather than longer. Keep it at a bare simmer throughout. Small bubbles should barely break the surface.
5. Skim off any scum that rises up. It clouds the broth if left in. Skim it off as soon as it appears. Pour in all of the rice wine now. Judging it takes a careful look. Take it off as soon as it turns opaque. Take the pot right off the heat.
6. Season it with salt and white pepper. A clear broth needs proper salting. Taste it carefully at the end. Add all the spring onion lengths. Let them soften in the residual heat. Give them just one minute only.
7. Ladle it out into warm deep bowls. Add the reserved raw ginger threads. Scatter fried shallot over the top. Add a few fresh coriander leaves. Serve plain rice alongside it. It does not keep at all well after. Make it and eat it straight away.

Technique

• Milkfish is notoriously bony, with many fine branched intramuscular bones running through the flesh rather than beside it. The belly is the prized cut because it is largely free of them and is also the fattiest part; even so, eat it carefully and check as you go, particularly with children. Deboned milkfish is widely sold in Taiwan and prepared by hand as a specialist trade.
• The broth is deliberately clear and little more than water and ginger, so the fish itself provides the flavour; that also means it needs proper salting, since there is nothing else to carry it.
• Keep the pot at a bare simmer and lower the fish in with a slotted spoon: milkfish belly is soft and breaks easily, and a hard boil both breaks it apart and clouds the broth. Take it off as soon as it turns opaque, about four minutes.

Substitutions

• Milkfish fillet stands in for belly, though it carries far more of the fine bones.
• Some ginger simmers in the broth and the rest goes in raw at the end, since cooked and raw ginger taste different.

Variations

• Milkfish tolerates brackish water and feeds low on the food chain, which is why it has been pond-farmed along the Tainan coast since the seventeenth century.
• White pepper rather than black is standard in Taiwanese soups, being sharper and leaving no dark specks.
• It is a breakfast dish, served with plain rice or rice porridge at shops that open very early.

History

Milkfish has been pond-farmed in Tainan since the Dutch and Ming Zheng era of the 1600s, making it southern Taiwan’s defining fish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Milkfish Soup?

Milkfish Soup is a soup & stew from Taiwan: clear ginger broth with fatty milkfish belly, Tainan’s breakfast of choice. Milkfish has been pond-farmed in Tainan since the Dutch and Ming Zheng era of the 1600s, making it southern Taiwan’s defining fish.

How long does Milkfish Soup take to make?

Milkfish Soup takes 20 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Milkfish Soup?

Yes, within limits. Milkfish fillet stands in for belly, though it carries far more of the fine bones. Some ginger simmers in the broth and the rest goes in raw at the end, since cooked and raw ginger taste different.

What is the most important thing to get right in Milkfish Soup?

Cut it as finely as you can manage. Peel the ginger with a spoon edge. A spoon scrapes the thin skin off cleanly. Cut the peeled ginger into thin slices. Stack those slices and cut them into threads. Slice with the grain rather than across it. Cut the milkfish belly into pieces.