Three-Shred Knocked Fish

Three-shred knocked fish takes fresh fish flesh (often yellow croaker or croaker), dusts it with starch and hammers it with a wooden mallet into paper-thin sheets, then cuts them into strips and simmers them with three shreds of ham, shiitake and chicken; the fish is smooth and the broth clear and savoury.

Three-shred knocked fish is a traditional Wenzhou home dish said to be over a century old, a fixture at New Year and family gatherings; together with brocade fish shreds and flash-fried cuttlefish flowers it forms the "three great dishes of Ou cuisine," best showing Ou cooking's seafood base and masterly knife work.

Served as a soup course, one first sips the broth then lifts the knocked fish with its three shreds; the fish is tender and springy while the ham and shiitake lift the savour, a signature dish of Ou-cuisine banquets.

The distinctive craft of malleting the flesh into thin sheets, the smooth translucent form of the fish, and the clear savoury broth cooked with three shreds are the marks of three-shred knocked fish.