Ganzhou Fish Cake

Ganzhou fish cake takes fresh fish—most often grass carp—skinned and boned, minced to a paste, mixed with a little starch and seasoning and beaten in one direction until springy, then shaped into balls, flattened and deep-fried until golden and floating, the skin faintly crisp and the inside springy and tender.

Fish cake, fish-thread noodles and lotus-leaf pork are together known as the Gannan Hakka "three fresh tricks," the crystallised wisdom of a people skilled at using the rivers and streams of the hills, handed down across Ganzhou's banquets and family tables.

The fried cakes are mostly simmered in soup with greens or vermicelli, drinking up the broth until doubly savoury; they are also sliced and re-fried with vegetables, a classic ingredient that bridges soup and stir-fry at a Hakka banquet.

The springy fish texture, the faintly crisp fried skin and the way it holds together through long simmering are what set Ganzhou fish cake apart from other minced-fish foods.