Carp Soup

Use the back of a knife to scale the fish, and clean the belly thoroughly. Feel the fish with your hands to check for softness (scrape against the scales, use your hands to remove any that remain, be careful of the tail to avoid injuring your hand). Use scissors to cut from the small abdominal hole to the head, remove the gills and intestines, leaving the fish roe (Kawahime, for beauty and nourishment, scrape off the blood threads on top with a spoon). Rinse until no blood threads are visible in the fish belly. Rub 1 gram of salt on the surface of the fish. Pour vinegar and cooking wine back and forth about 2 tablespoons in total, including inside the fish belly, and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Half a spoon of oil, heat it and add ginger slices, after 5 seconds add the fish and fry until both sides are golden, add two tablespoons of shrimp paste (adjust the saltiness according to the shrimp paste), toss the pan, add three bowls of water, and add fish roe. Boil on high heat.

Shrimp paste (seal with plastic wrap to keep it fresh, so fragrant it’s unrecognizable to relatives) about two tablespoons, for a lighter taste one tablespoon.

Add vinegar, a total of three tablespoons of the varieties available at home, for a rich taste. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, 3 cloves of garlic (peeled and smashed with a knife), and 0.5 grams of salt to season.

It’s ready to serve in minutes. Yes, there is no cilantro or green onions, yet it is already incredibly fresh. Diligent little ones can buy some to add and try the taste, and you can also add pepper. Lazy version of carp soup is ready.