How to Wash Butterfish - Comprehensive Butterfish Cooking Methods and How to Make Them Tasty
The hairtail lives in the depths of the sea, making it more pungent. However, this does not stop the hairtail from appearing on tables across thousands of households. Many people believe that the reason why the hairtail is so pungent is due to its scales, but the actual culprit causing the fish's pungency is the black membrane in its belly and the dirt along the vertebral column. However, not removing the scales does affect the taste of the hairtail. Should one remove the scales during washing, and how can one wash it to remove unnecessary substances without harming the hairtail? Let's find out.How to Wash Hairtail A quick and convenient method is to first rinse the hairtail with warm water, then use a steel wire brush or metal wire to clean the fish body. Afterward, remove the head and tail to complete the washing process. Alternatively, you can soak the hairtail in slightly warm water for a short time before quickly rinsing it. Some experts suggest using cold water because the scales are damaged when exposed to 75-degree water, thus causing the loss of nutrients.
However, the argument is that warm water softens the scales, making them easier to handle.
For an intermediate solution, we recommend using water around 40 degrees Celsius for a quick rinse. This approach avoids damaging the scales while lowering washing difficulty.
Some methods suggest soaking the hairtail in alkaline water, but this can destroy B vitamins in the fish. The internal organs should be removed as with other types of fish. Special attention must be paid to thoroughly rinsing out the black membrane and dirt along the vertebral column; otherwise, the pungent smell will still persist.
Some methods suggest using alkaline water, but this might destroy B vitamins in the hairtail. The method for removing internal organs is similar to that of other fish. It's important to thoroughly rinse out the black membrane and dirt along the vertebral column; otherwise, the pungent smell will still persist.
How to Remove Scales from Hairtail When washing hairtails, be careful not to damage the silver layer covering the body of the fish. This layer contains 6-thioguanine, a compound that can aid in treating white blood cell disorders, stomach cancer, and lymphoma. How to Cook Hairtail
Hairtails have few bones, making them ideal for those who enjoy eating fish but are afraid of dealing with bones.
Even plain steaming can result in delicious flavor. However, when cooking, you need to handle the hairtail carefully so that its freshness is brought out without any pungent smell. How many ways do you know to cook hairtails?Let's explore together. Steamed HairtailIngredients: hairtail, ginger, scallions, cooking wine, salt, fish sauce. Method:
1. Cut the hairtail into pieces and wash it thoroughly.
2. Rinse the ginger and scallions and cut them into strips.3. Make a cross-hatch cut on both sides of the hairtail segments to be about 1 cm deep. 4. Place the hairtail in a dish, add cooking wine and salt, mix well, sprinkle with ginger and scallions, and fish sauce. Start steaming now.
5. Once cooked, remove from the steamer and drizzle with some cooking oil before serving.
Fried Hairtail
Ingredients: hairtail, cooking oil, chili peppers, ginger, scallions, salt, shrimp paste.
Method:
1. Cut the hairtail into pieces and wash it thoroughly.
2. Clean the ginger and scallions, cutting them into strips.
3. Coat the hairtail with chili pepper, shrimp paste, ginger and scallions, turning to ensure even coating.
4. Heat oil in a pot and fry the hairtail until cooked through before removing.Pan-Fried Hairtail Ingredients: hairtail, black pepper, salt, ginger slices, cooking oil.
Method:
1. Clean the hairtail, cut into pieces, dry thoroughly, marinate in alcohol and black pepper for flavor.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add ginger slices and fry until both sides of the hairtail turn golden brown.
Should Hairtails Have Their Scales Removed?
Whether or not to remove scales from hairtails is a matter that puzzles many people while preparing them. The scales contain unsaturated fatty acids that significantly lower cholesterol levels in the body.
Moreover, the silver layer contains anti-cancer components such as 6-thioguanine, which can help treat various illnesses including white blood cell disorders, stomach cancer, and lymphoma.
Therefore, removing hairtail scales is not a sensible action. However, leaving them on can affect taste. Let's explore who is to blame for the pungency of the hairtail.Do Hairtails Need Their Scales Removed? In many households and even in restaurants, people usually remove the scales when dealing with hairtails. This shiny layer of scales contains valuable nutrients.
The scale is a layer of special fat that forms the skin, known as "silver fat," which is a high-quality fat with higher nutritional value.
Thus, removing the hairtail's scales would be an unwise decision.
But not taking off the scales will affect taste. If you want to preserve these valuable nutrients, do not remove the scales; otherwise, it may be better to take them off.
Who Is Responsible for the Pungency of Hairtails?
Many people think hairtails are so pungent because of their scales. In reality, the main culprit is the black membrane and dirt along the vertebral column.
So it's time to stop blaming the scales. However, most fish scales do have a pungent smell. If you want to completely eliminate this smell, adding aromatic ingredients like lemon or lemongrass during cooking can help.
How to Remove the Pungency of HairtailsAlthough hairtails are delicious, their strong pungent smell can be off-putting. Thus, they are usually cooked in red-braised or sugar vinegar ways. It's generally not recommended to steam them but is okay if you add ingredients to remove the pungency.
Below, we will discuss how to remove the pungency of hairtails so that you can fully enjoy their freshness without worrying about a trail behind you.
When cooking ordinary fish, adding ginger or cooking wine can easily remove the pungent smell. Can this method work for hairtails?
In fact, removing the pungent smell from hairtails is not difficult. The key is to clean out the internal organs thoroughly. Here are the steps:1. Remove scales and internal organs, wash well, then cut into rhombus pieces diagonally.2. Place in a large bowl, add salt, pepper, and pour in some high-proof alcohol, mix evenly for marination before cooking.3. During the marination, adding alcohol allows it to fully interact with amine substances in the ingredients, effectively removing pungency. Tips for Removing Pungency from Hairtails
1. Make sure to remove the black membrane inside as this is mainly responsible for the pungent smell.
2. If hairtails are very pungent, avoid steaming and instead fry them until golden brown on both sides before simmering.3. When simmering, adding vinegar and sugar can help remove the pungency while enhancing flavor.There are many ways to remove the pungency of hairtails, such as adding ginger or customizing your own sauce, even using aromatic ingredients like lemon or lemongrass. Each household has its methods for removing the pungency. Here we offer some tips to help you enjoy the freshness and flavor of hairtails without any unpleasantness.How to Choose Hairtails In the market, there are two types: fresh hairtails and frozen hairtails. The quality of the hairtail determines its taste, so it's important to choose carefully to avoid buying unfresh hairtails. Fresh Hairtail Selection
Firm body: A full, meaty fish with dark but non-glossy skin is a sign of high-quality fish. Gills: Fresh gills appear bright red; the fresher they are, the brighter their color.
Fish skin: The skin should be grayish white and free from blemishes. If it appears dull or has discoloration, it may not be fresh.
Weight: High-quality hairtails typically weigh over 0.5 kg per piece; those below this weight might not be of good quality.Frozen Hairtail Selection For frozen hairtails, check the eyes for a prominent and clean look, indicating freshness. Eyes that are sunken or have a whitish film indicate lower quality.
Also, observe the ice layer: too much ice can make it less appealing in terms of price; however, if there's no visible ice layer, but you see many scales missing, this could be due to poor protection during freezing.
Small hints to remove the fishy smell from silver carp.
1 The black membrane in the belly of the silver carp must be removed, as this is the main reason for its fishy smell.
2 If the silver carp has a strong fishy smell, it's best not to choose clear stewing; instead, fry both sides until they are well-colored before cooking to reduce some of the fishiness.
3 When simmering silver carp, adding vinegar and sugar can help remove the fishiness and enhance freshness.
There are many methods to remove the fishy smell from silver carp. Adding ginger slices or customizing a sauce, even adding highly fragrant ingredients like lemon or lemongrass, can all work for reducing the fishiness. However, every household has its own approach, so what the editor provides here is just a few suggestions for your reference.
How to choose silver carp
There are two types of silver carp available in the market: fresh and frozen. The quality of the silver carp determines the taste of the ingredient, so when purchasing, be as careful as possible to avoid buying unfresh fish. Now let's see how to choose silver carp.
[Fresh silver carp]
Full body: Thick flesh, dark color without luster; meat that is soft and shriveled usually indicates poor quality silver carp.
Gills: Fresh red gills indicate a fresher fish.
Fish surface: Grayish white or silvery gray with luster; cannot be yellow. Yellow color indicates unfreshness (yellowing is due to oxidation of the silver scales' fat). Also check if the "silver scales" (the silver scales are actually not real scales but a part of their body) have fallen off, as these highly nutritious silver scales contain hexathiopterine. A lot of them falling off suggests the fish has been handled multiple times and is less fresh, thus its nutritional value decreases significantly.
Abdomen: An abdomen that has become soft or broken indicates unfreshness.
Weight. High-quality silver carp should weigh over 0.5 kilograms per piece; if not, it may be of poor quality.
[Frozen silver carp]
When buying frozen silver carp, check the eyes: prominent, clear, and clean eyes are a sign of good quality fish. If the eyes appear sunken with a layer of white coating over them, they indicate lower quality. Secondly, examine the ice layer: Some frozen silver carp have an ice layer that is almost as heavy as the fish itself. Buying such can be cheap but not very worthwhile when consuming. Those without any visible ice layer are more expensive but often have many of their "silver scales" already fallen off (the ice layer serves to protect the scales).
