Thursday, November 6, 2008

Dou-ban yu fail

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After tasting my dad's dou-ban yu before I left for Colorado, I was determined to recreate the dish on my own. At the Asian supermarket in Denver, I picked up a bottle of the spicy bean paste/hot bean sauce brand he had used (same as the one I used for my mapo tofu dish), and figured all I needed was to add chopped garlic, cilantro, scallions, and basil for the sauce.

But then there was the matter of the fish. I didn't know where I could buy a live carp, and how could I possibly eat an entire carp anyway? So I made the dish with frozen tilapia filets that I bought at Wal-Mart, not knowing how wretched they would taste. Overly fishy, and with unpleasant scales and bones still randomly stuck in them, which totally booby-trapped each bite. I know I have to make grocery compromises because of budget and availability now, but these filets were just not worth it.
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The flavor of the sauce, however, was great. My mom advises that I add cooking wine and ginger next time to brighten the flavors and to reduce the fishiness, so I guess that's how I'll tackle the rest of the filets I have left. After that, though, there's no way I am buying them again.

6 comments:

  1. Can you take a picture of the hot bean sauce and post it? Thanks :)

    Also, my comment got eaten on the other post, part of it was supposed to say "Manuscripts?"

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  2. Yvo, I just linked "hot bean sauce" to a photo I took of the jar a while back. Same, no? And yep novel manuscripts…when I do freelance proofreading.

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  3. Awww, I'm sorry the fish didn't work out. It looks gorgeous though!

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  4. gaga, I'm going to try this dish again with better fish, for sure. I wish I knew how to deal with the evil tiliapia sitting in my freezer right now though, in some way that will make them magically delicious.

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  5. I as just hunting for a dou-ban-yu recipe to make my tilapia filets from Walmart. Uh-oh.

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  6. Joyce, maybe you'll have better luck with yours…unfortunately I ended up throwing mine out altogether. Just couldn't deal with the taste!

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