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West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce

Name: West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: chinese
Ingredients: grass carp; scallion; ginger; Shaoxing wine; Salt; light soy sauce; dark soy sauce; sugar; white pepper powder; Zhenjiang Black Vinegar; cornstarch; water

groups4 servingsspeedMediumcountertopsPrep: 5 minsskilletCook: 15 minsscheduleTotal: 20 minsoutdoor_grillBoiled

Allergens:warningFishwarningSoywarningSulphites

Allergen labels are AI-generated and may be incomplete or wrong. If you have a food allergy, always verify every ingredient yourself.

Recipe details are AI-generated from the video and may contain errors — for reference only.

skilletInstruction

7 Steps Total

Preparation

00:00:16

warningStay safe

Be careful not to be pricked by the fish fins when handling raw fish, and wash your hands thoroughly after operation to prevent cross-contamination.

Clean the throat teeth of the grass carp thoroughly.
Remove the inner cavity and clean any visceral residue.
Cut off the fins and tail with kitchen shears.

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Watch out

The throat teeth of the fish must be completely removed, otherwise lingering odors will seriously ruin the taste.

Ingredients:grass carp (1 piece)

Tools:kitchen knifekitchen scissors

Active Cooking

00:00:52

Pour warm water at about 85 degrees over the fish skin to make the skin shrink upon heat.
Scrape off the scales and surface black membrane gently with a knife.
Rinse clean with water and dry the surface moisture of the fish completely with kitchen paper.

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Watch out

Water temperature must be controlled around 85 degrees, otherwise it will crack the fish skin and residual black membrane will increase the fishy smell.

Ingredients:grass carp

Tools:kitchen knifekitchen paperladle

Active Cooking

00:01:22

warningStay safe

Hold the knife handle firmly when splitting and cutting fish bones, apply even force to avoid slipping and causing cuts.

Make a cut from the tail, closely follow the spine and push forward to split the fish into two halves
Make a slash along the spine meat on the soft half to help absorb flavors and cook evenly
Cut the hard half diagonally at intervals of about two finger widths, slicing through to the bone without separating completely

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Watch out

When cutting the hard half into sections, you must slice diagonally through to the bone without breaking the bones, otherwise the fish pieces will fall apart during cooking and affect the shape.

Ingredients:grass carp

Tools:kitchen knifechopping board

Waiting Time

00:02:13

Wash the cut fish pieces and place them in a large plate.
Add sliced scallions and ginger slices.
Pour in 40 ml Shaoxing wine and mix evenly to marinate and remove fishy odor.

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Watch out

The Shaoxing wine must be distributed evenly during marination, otherwise some fishy odor will remain.

Ingredients:grass carpscallion (2 piece)ginger (30 g)Shaoxing wine (40 ml)

Tools:plate

Active Cooking

00:02:57

warningStay safe

Be careful of steam burns when handling boiling water and hot pans, gently lower the fish pieces close to the water surface to avoid hot water splashing.

Pour 800 ml of water into the wok, add scallion sections, ginger slices, and 5 g salt, and bring to a boil.
Add the bone-in fish pieces first for cooking.
After the water boils, turn to low heat to maintain a gentle simmer with shrimp-eye bubbles, cover the lid and cook for about 5 minutes until the fish meat slightly shrinks and is fully cooked, then remove.

local_fire_departmentlow-medium heat for 5 minutes

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Watch out

Must maintain a gentle shrimp-eye bubble simmer when boiling fish, high heat will instantly break apart the unprotected fish meat.

Ingredients:water (800 ml)scalliongingerSalt (5 g)grass carp

Tools:woklidslotted spoon

Active Cooking

00:03:54

Add an appropriate amount of water into the wok and bring to a boil.
Season in order with Shaoxing wine, 30 ml light soy sauce, salt, 50 g sugar, white pepper powder, and 40 ml Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar.
Add 10 ml dark soy sauce for color, then pour in 20 g cornstarch slurry to thicken, cooking until bubbles form and the sauce becomes smooth, glossy, and flows in a steady stream.

local_fire_departmentlow-medium heat for 4 minutes

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Watch out

When thickening with starch, ensure the sauce is bubbling and do not use a roaring high heat, otherwise the starch will easily lump or form clumps due to uneven heating.

Ingredients:water (200 ml)Shaoxing winelight soy sauce (30 ml)Saltsugar (50 g)white pepper powder (2 g)Zhenjiang Black Vinegar (40 ml)dark soy sauce (10 ml)cornstarch (20 g)

Tools:wokladle

Active Cooking

00:04:44

warningStay safe

Be careful of burns when transferring cooked fish and moving pots filled with hot sauce, handle gently during plating to prevent fish meat from breaking.

Use a slotted spoon to scrape along the bottom edge and gently lift out the boiled fish.
Arrange neatly in a long serving plate with the fish bellies facing outward.
Pour the prepared smooth and glossy sweet-and-sour sauce evenly over the fish and garnish with an appropriate amount of minced ginger.

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Watch out

The minced ginger must be cut finely rather than mashed into paste, otherwise the taste will be too spicy and ruin the sauce texture.

Ingredients:grass carpginger (10 g)

Tools:serving plateslotted spoon