November 19, 2014

Chinese Fried Fish Skins 炸魚皮

Chinese, deep, Fried, Fish Skins,  炸魚皮
By Published: 2014-11-19
Do you like potato chips?  I do!  I love crispy crunchy potato chips so much I usually end up eating the whole bag!  Well, if you love potato chips, you'll love, love, love these Chinese Fried Fish Skin Chips as much as we do!  

A local Hong Kong staple available as a side order in most noodle shops, these absolutely deliciously thin, tasty and crispy deep fried Chinese Fried Fish Skin, or 炸魚皮 could possibly be more yummilicious than potato chips! (Seriously, I'm not kidding!)

Chinese, deep, Fried, Fish Skins,  炸魚皮

To be honest though, the first time I was introduced to these Chinese Fried Fish Skin Chips I was pretty 'meh' about it.  Yeah, right, I thought to myself, like the skin of a fish is going to taste anywhere high on the yummy meter. But then what do you know but I dipped and crunched and stuffed my face through my first ever side order of Chinese fried fish skin in no time at all!  Boy was I ever wrong!  

These puppies are soooo delightfully light and crunchy (more crunchy than tater chips!), really yummy and absolutely addictive!  The best bit for me is the white skin part, the belly of the fish, which is ever so delicate and crunch-ilicious!  Now we pick up little bags of fried fish skins all the time as a guilty pleasure treat for ourselves!  

Chinese, deep, Fried, Fish Skins,  炸魚皮
Look for little tied up bags of Chinese Fried Fish Skins for take out orders!

The best fish skin chips use the skin of the grey mullet fish, or 鯔魚, to fry up deliciously light and crispy chips.  Also used are Sole 龍脷 fish skin, Dace 鯪魚 fish skin and even Eel 黃鱔 skin.  But apparently the most historically authentic  and fabulously delicious skin to use for this dish would be crocodile skin!?!

Chinese, deep, Fried, Fish Skins,  炸魚皮
The grey mullet fish, or 鯔魚

Whichever fish skin is used, they are first cleaned and scaled, etc., then dipped into a light batter and then deep fried until just crisp.  Not all Fried Fish Skins are created equal, though, especially as these fried fish skins are usually made in the shop where you buy them. 

One should look for bags that are very, very tightly sealed (humidity is the great crunch deflator) and fish skins that are thin, have a light, even coating of batter and look freshly fried in clean and new oil.  Old oil spoils the taste and gives the fried skins a more darker golden color.  The fish skins in the bag should feel crackly and light just like a bag of potato chips feels.

Chinese, deep, Fried, Fish Skins, soup noodles, 炸魚皮
Option 2 - Dip and Crunch with hot tasty noodles!

How to eat your delicious Chinese Fried Fish Skin  炸魚皮:

1) Straight Up:  Just open the bag and happily crunch your way through the whole bag in one go!

2) Dip and Crunch:  Fix yourself a bowl of hot soup noodles.  Grab a Fried Fish Skin and dip into hot noodle soup for 1 to 2 seconds.  Remove and bite off the dipped bit, savouring the broth soaked exterior against the still crispy crunchy interior of the Fried Fish Skin.  

Yummilicious!  For an easy and tasty noodle recipe that goes perfectly with a bag of crispy delicious Chinese Fried Fish Skins check out our Fish Ball Soup Noodles recipe!

How do you eat your Chinese Fried Fish Skins?

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