Home-style recipe for braised bream with tofu

Ingredients: 1 fresh bream (about 1 jin and 2 liang), 1~2 blocks of tofu, 3~4 stalks each of scallion and cilantro, 1 small piece of ginger, red chili, cooking oil, salt, and Weijixian soy sauce.

Cooking: Wash the bream, rub both sides of the fish with ginger slices (about 10 or more slices) and set on a plate; cut the tofu into small pieces (about the size of a small 1-inch photo, and preferably on the thinner side). Wash the scallion and cilantro and cut into sections, cut the chili into small pieces and set aside.

Add a little oil to the wok; when the wok is hot, add the ginger slices and use a spatula to rub the ginger slices around the center and sides of the wok, then place the bream in the wok and pan-fry over medium heat until cooked. After one side is done, use the spatula to turn it to the other side; after about 3 or 4 minutes, evenly sprinkle salt over the fish, then evenly sprinkle in the soy sauce, and then pour the tofu into the wok to braise together with the fish. When the tofu touching the wok turns golden brown on one side, add the scallion, cilantro, and chili to the wok and braise everything together.

Pour 3/4 of a plateful of clear water, using the plate that held the fish, into the wok, cover with the lid, and simmer over high heat for 7~8 minutes; it is best when the fish is completely cooked through and 1/3 of the fish broth remains in the wok.