Introduction: The character "Xian" (鲜), meaning "fresh," is composed of the characters for "fish" (鱼) and "sheep" (羊). In fact, cooking fish and lamb together not only creates an exceptionally delicious flavor but also provides highly complementary nutrition, making it a nourishing seasonal dish for autumn and winter.
Huang Qian, a national-level certified public nutritionist, believes that both fish and lamb are tender and rich in nutrients, and they are nutritionally complementary from a nutritional perspective. Furthermore, most fish are considered warm or cool in nature, while lamb is hot in nature. The combination of the two is more suitable for nourishing the body in autumn and winter.
Nutritional Complementarity of Fish and Lamb
When making a hot pot, first place the fish head in a pot of clear water, adding goji berries and ginger. Before cooking the lamb, drink the first broth, pouring it into a bowl with some cilantro, chopped green onions, and a little salt to make an authentic fish head broth. Then, simmer the fish while cooking the lamb. The fish is stewed until done, removing any fishy taste, and the lamb is quickly boiled, reducing its gamey flavor. The flavors blend together, creating a unique deliciousness from each.
Compared to other poultry and meats, both fish and lamb have a very tender texture, feeling softer and easier to digest and absorb.
Huang Qian believes that sheep are herbivores. In modern health practices, people prefer to eat meat from herbivores like beef and lamb rather than from omnivores like pork. Fish, living in water, are perceived as cleaner. When choosing meat, people follow the saying, "Four legs are not as good as two, and two are not as good as none," and fish are aquatic and have no legs. Both fish and lamb have a light, delicious flavor. More remarkably, they both contain rich and delicate animal proteins that are easily absorbed by the human body.
In terms of their respective nutritional functions, fish is primarily beneficial for intelligence, while lamb is primarily strengthening to the body.
Fish is known as a "delicious delicacy that makes you smarter the more you eat." Fish is characterized by high protein and low fat, containing unique lecithin and DHA. Lecithin is hailed as the "third nutrient" alongside protein and vitamins, helping to improve immunity, prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, aid intellectual development, and delay aging. DHA, commonly known as "brain gold," is a nutrient essential for the brain and retina, helping to enhance thinking and memory abilities.
Lamb is low in fat and cholesterol and rich in B vitamins and minerals. In the Jin Dynasty, Li Gao once commented: "Lamb... can supplement the Qi of the tangible muscles."
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, fish and fish cartilage are rich in collagen, making them an excellent beauty product for women. Lamb has the effect of nourishing the kidneys and strengthening yang, making it suitable for regular consumption by men.
The Combination of Fish and Lamb Has a Long History
In ancient China, the character "Xian" (鲜) referred to a type of fish. In his work "Shuowen Jiezi," Xu Shen said: "Xian is a fish's name, from the country of He." This means "Xian" was a fish produced from the ancient northern country of He. The modern scholar of ancient characters, Dongping Wu, in his book "Interesting Explanations of Chinese Character Culture," stated that the character "Xian" originated from the bronze script and had two forms. One form was three "fish" characters combined together, indicating a large quantity of fish. The other form had "sheep" on top and "fish" on the bottom, which evolved in the small seal script to "fish" on the left and "sheep" on the right. It turns out that in ancient China, northern culture was more developed and held the "power" of creating characters, while the south was known as the "barbaric land." Northerners preferred lamb, while southerners preferred fish. In ancient China, top and left positions were considered superior.
To this day, a story circulates among chefs that the culinary ancestor Peng Zu created a dish called "Fish and Lamb Make Xian." The cooking method involved stewing segments (or pieces) of lamb (with bone) and fish (or fish head) together, which was believed to have the effect of strengthening yang and replenishing essence and blood.
Today, Hangzhou cuisine still has a very famous dish called "Pregnant Crucian Carp," which is said to have originated in Yangzhou during the Qianlong period. Its preparation involves taking a crucian carp of over three taels, slitting its belly, cleaning it, and stuffing it with seasoned lamb filling, then braising it in a pot. In the Huaiyang area, this dish is also believed to help a woman conceive if she eats it, hence the name "Pregnant Crucian Carp."
The Cooking Method for Fish and Lamb Stew Requires Skill
When making a hot pot with fish and lamb, one should consider that only the heads of crucian carp and grass carp can be stewed for a long time. Most other fish are cooked in just a few minutes and will become tough if cooked longer, affecting the texture. The same applies to lamb; neither frozen nor fresh lamb slices should be boiled for a long time. They have the best texture when blanched in boiling water for two to three minutes.
Place ginger, garlic, and star anise in the water. After it boils, add a whole crucian carp or fish pieces to preserve their tenderness. The fish head should be blanched in boiling water first before being added to the pot. Simmer the fish head or crucian carp for twenty to thirty minutes to create a milky broth, then add a little white pepper. This broth can be drunk and also used for cooking the lamb. Additionally, adding some milk to the water when making a fish and lamb hot pot will improve the taste.
If using fresh lamb instead of frozen slices, it is advisable to marinate it for half an hour with low-sodium salt, cooking wine, ginger powder, sugar, chopped green onions, and a little tenderizer.
To prevent the problem of many fish bones in the crucian carp, it can be placed in a soup bag. This way, you don't have to worry about fish bones when drinking the soup or cooking other ingredients. If you want to eat the fish meat, you can cook the crucian carp first, remove the fish meat, and then place it in a soup bag to make the broth.
The broth from a fish and lamb hot pot is savory, mellow, and rich. After eating the meat, you can add ingredients like vermicelli, frozen tofu, winter bamboo shoots, and baby bok choy and cook them over high heat for a long-lasting aftertaste.
Another common method, different from the hot pot, is to first cut the lamb into chunks and stew until about 80% cooked. Then add the fish pieces that have been blanched in boiling water, simmer for a few more minutes, and then turn off the heat after adding seasonings like salt and chopped green onions. This method is more suitable for using lamb chops to stew with fish pieces, and can be done by either clear stewing or red braising.
Lamb Cartilage and Crucian Carp Soup is also a traditional famous dish. Take half a jin of high-quality lamb cartilage, blanch it in boiling water and set aside. Clean 1-3 crucian carps, marinate them for half an hour with cooking wine, soy sauce, salt, ginger powder, and chopped green onions, then pan-fry them in hot oil until both sides are golden brown. Add water to a clay pot, bring to a boil, add the prepared lamb cartilage, crucian carp, ginger slices, garlic, and a little cooking wine. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer slowly for two hours until the soup turns milky white. Then add an appropriate amount of white pepper, low-sodium salt, white vinegar, sesame oil, cilantro, and it is ready to serve.