CHAPTER 177: CHAPTER 61 FISH PUREE CAKE (PART 1)_3

It’s not about being unwilling, but a four or five pound grass carp is already enough for the three of us, Du Xixi, to eat. Making more would just be wasteful.

"Should I make braised grass carp, or grass carp soup? Stir-frying or steaming are also good choices..." Du Xixi’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the smallest big grass carp she had picked out. "Ah, or I could mince it into fish paste, and make pancakes or balls out of it!"

Miao Miao, with feline traits, had a natural love for fish. At that moment, she couldn’t resist coming over to the sink, watching the big grass carp flicking its tail, drooling.

While pondering how to cook the grass carp, Du Xixi saw this and smiled, moving Miao Miao’s little head away gently, saying softly, "Don’t worry, I know you want to eat. Once I’m done, there will be plenty for you!"

Miao Miao licked the corners of her mouth with her little tongue. Though she really wanted to take a bite right then, being obedient as always, she nodded and scurried a little farther away.

She feared that if she got too close, she wouldn’t resist and actually start gnawing on the fish!

Under Du Xixi’s "training," 2569 had become well-versed in slaughtering chickens, ducks, and even piglets. However, 2569 had never encountered a creature called a "fish" before, and naturally didn’t know how to kill it.

"Ma’am, I might need to learn a bit..." 2569 noticed Du Xixi looking at the grass carp with a frown and mistakenly thought she wanted help with killing the fish. So, a troubled little expression appeared on the electronic screen.

felt that he might not be able to help right away. Forcing his hand might make a mess, just like before when slaughtering a piglet ended up spreading pig blood all over the kitchen.

However, Du Xixi glanced at it, shook her head, and said, "No need, killing fish is a skillful task, I’ll handle it myself. Just watch for now."

When Du Xixi was very young, she thought killing fish just involved chopping off the head, slicing open the belly, discarding the guts, and then it was done. But in reality, there are plenty of nuances to killing fish!

For instance, in the fish’s innards is a gallbladder; if you accidentally rupture it, the fish meat will turn bitter and foul. Of course, adding a little liquor can help dissipate the bitterness.

Du Xixi picked up the big kitchen knife and deftly scraped along both sides of the fish. The small, transparent fish scales fell piece by piece from the fish’s skin onto the chopping board, sticking to the knife.

Once the scales were clean, Du Xixi flipped the fish over, positioning the knife to slice smoothly into the snow-white belly of the grass carp.

Du Xixi threw the gills and innards aside, then carefully scraped off the black membrane inside the fish. If not cleaned well, the fish might not be much affected in texture, but the heavy fishy smell would overshadow the fresh flavor of the fish itself.

After thoroughly cleaning inside, Du Xixi didn’t stop there. She had 2569 prepare some cold saltwater to wash the fish’s surface again.

With a rinse under clear water, blood water flowed out from the inside of the fish, and this big four to five pound grass carp was considered thoroughly cleaned.

Picking up the cleaned grass carp, Du Xixi removed the main fish bones and then looked at the two thick fillets on the chopping board, picking up the filleting knife from the knife rack nearby.

"Ma’am, what dish are you making?" 2569 tilted its electronic screen, initially thinking that Du Xixi would cut it into segments or pieces like meat or vegetables, but was surprised to see her seriously slicing the fillets into pieces, each less than half a palm thick.

"I’m making fish paste pancakes, starting by turning this grass carp into fish paste." Du Xixi took a moment to answer while her hands continued skillfully. Each slice of fish was similar in size and thickness, forming a small mound on the chopping board under Du Xixi’s steady hand.

Fish paste, also known as fish mince, needs to be ground into fine, snow-white fish mud. It can be fried into aromatic fish paste pancakes, or during the process, mixed with some flour and repeatedly slapped to make bouncy fish balls.

Du Xixi, although interested in making fish balls, realized that compared to the effort required to slap fish balls, the crispy, aromatic fish paste pancakes better suited her current need to nourish herself during pregnancy.

As for fish balls, the remaining two grass carps could be made at any time, there was no hurry.

After slicing the fish, Du Xixi further divided them, cutting them into smaller pieces, each about a quarter of the size of a palm. With a certain ratio of water mixed with a certain ratio of fish slices, Du Xixi placed them into the blender to start mincing.

Mincing fish paste is not like pounding fish balls; the latter tests strength, while the former, in addition to requiring strength, tests the mincer’s patience. Raw fish meat, with its difficult-to-grind fish tendons and stickiness between slices, even when chopped, requires a lot of effort and a long time to grind into qualified fish mud.

Du Xixi, eager to taste the fish paste pancakes, naturally lacked patience to painstakingly cut the fish slices into tiny bits and then carefully start grinding the fish mud.

Especially since there are still some tiny fish bones in the grass carp. When filleting earlier, Du Xixi used a small knife to deliberately pick out quite a few. If done by hand, she feared it would take more effort to pick out the tiny bones and tendons again.