A Tainan Old-Time Flavor That's Fast Disappearing: Milkfish with Autumnal Maple Leaves and Garlic

Sesame oil is the main cooking oil for people in the south; they use it all year round
Friends from the north tell me they only use sesame oil for cooking during ’zuo yue zi’ (postpartum confinement)

This dish, milkfish with autumnal maple (pronounced "jia") leaves and garlic, uses a Tainan specialty…..milkfish
Add tender leaves of the autumnal maple tree and garlic….stir-fried in sesame oil into a filling, stuffed into the fish belly…
Layers of autumnal maple leaves are laid beneath and on top of the fish, and over a low flame
it is “phi” (Taiwanese) cooked
similar to a smoking method

The old method was……
Place a wok over the fire, first spread a layer of salt, then a layer of autumnal maple leaves
Put the fish on top, then cover with a thick layer of autumnal maple leaves…….Cover with the lid
Use a low flame to slowly “phi” it until done

Autumnal maple leaves

Now
with an oven, it's much more convenient
But all the steps still can't be skipped~

I hear~
this dish has a ’stomach-soothing’ effect
I wonder, does this have something to do with the southern weather?

Summers in the south are very hot, so to quench thirst, people often gulp down cold water……
Drinking too much cold water makes the stomach and intestines too cold
So that's why you need to eat some foods that warm the stomach?

Ingredients:
1. About 10 tender autumnal maple leaves…..wash clean, wipe dry…..chop into bits
2. About 20~30 autumnal maple leaves
3. 2 milkfish bellies or 1 whole milkfish, filleted into two pieces
4. Minced garlic…..1 tablespoon
5. 1.5 tablespoons sesame oil + 1 tablespoon fragrant oil
6. Sea salt, salad oil…..to taste

Method:
1. Wash the fish clean, wipe dry. Evenly rub sea salt and salad oil on both sides…..set aside

2. In a pan put sesame oil, fragrant oil, minced garlic, chopped autumnal maple leaves…..stir-fry slowly over low heat until fragrant…..set aside
as shown below

3. Spread a flat layer of salt on the baking tray (about 2~3 tablespoons)
then spread a thick layer of autumnal maple leaves……place the milkfish on top

4. Then put the filling from step 2 on top of the fish…..as shown below

5. Then cover with the other milkfish fillet, as shown below

6. Finally, cover with another layer of autumnal maple leaves……..and on the very top cover with a layer of aluminum foil

7. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees for 5 minutes
Put the baking tray in and bake for 15 minutes……lift off the aluminum foil….bake another 5 minutes and it's done

You can also bake directly for 20 minutes without lifting the aluminum foil midway
This way, the fish meat will be a bit more moist

This old-time flavor passed down from generation to generation, why does it still make people salivate and feel nostalgic even now……..
I think, it's a kind of spirit….
A fastidiousness about ingredients….
That earnest and persistent spirit of life aesthetics toward the cooking process

My family's autumnal maple tree