Hunan Steamed Fish Head with Duo Jiao Chili

Ingredients

• 1 (approx. 500 g) Silver carp head, split by the fishmonger, gills removed, cut-side up
• 150 g Duo jiao (Hunan fermented chopped red chili), not fresh chili; lacto-fermented
• 20 g Fresh ginger, finely sliced or matchsticked
• 4 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Fermented black beans (douchi), rinsed
• For finishing
• 3 tbsp Neutral cooking oil, heated until smoking

Method

1. 1
   Bring a steamer to a full, rolling boil. The water must be in vigorous motion before the fish is introduced; a lazy simmer will not cook the head evenly.
2. 2
   Lay the split head cut-side up on a heatproof dish. Distribute the duo jiao in a thick, even layer over the entire cut surface. Scatter the ginger, garlic, and fermented black beans over the chili. Add no salt — the duo jiao carries sufficient salinity.
3. 3
   Set the dish in the steamer and steam at full boil for 12 minutes for a 500 g head. This is where the dish lives or dies: under-steaming leaves the cheek flesh opaque and firm; the correct end-point is cheek meat that pulls away from the bone with no resistance and the collagen-rich skin and lips that have turned fully gelatinous and translucent.
4. 4
   Remove the dish from the steamer. Heat the neutral oil in a small pan until it begins to smoke. Carry the dish to the table and pour the smoking oil directly over the duo jiao and aromatics. The oil must be genuinely hot — the sizzle is not theatrical; it blooms the aromatic compounds in the chili and ginger.