Comments on: Longing for Pungent Dried Fish

By: John Wong

John Wong — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:38:24 +0000

Carolyn: I am a senior citizen and like most Chines of my generation we were raised on great food like Steamed Pork with salted fish. My mother made the dish regularly except with a twist: She used to buy fresh flat fish of some kind and made her own salt fish. Used to salt them up, wrap them loosely in cheese cloth and hung them on a clothes line to dry. You can imagine the aroma that had on the neighborhood cats. The final fish made great dishes and she always shared her bounty with her Asian friends. Brings back memories. Thank you

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:48:12 +0000

Hi Carolyn,
Just found this topic on your website. Funny thing.. I happened to have made a variation of this just last week! It was always one of my favorite things growing up many years ago in California. My mom used to make her own salted fish using flounder and then preserving it by packing it in vegetable oil. Of course, it attracted every cat in the neighborhood when she made a batch. [I can send you her recipe if you should want to give it a try]. Her hom yu was superior to anything I’ve had since, but I have been able to find jars of salted mackerel packed in oil in Chinese grocery stores on occasion and it works as a suitable substitute. The last bottle I got was packed in Malaysia. You might be able to find it on the shelves at Ranch 99.

By: Suzy

Suzy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:48:20 +0000

Oh my gosh, here I was slowly working my way back through your postings when I found hom yu! Can’t believe it. I, too, grew up in LA and fondly remember eating at the Far East Cafe, with those creaky old dark brown painted chairs. The hom yu was in this tiny light green melmac looking saucer—a gray cake of salty, steamed pork w/ maybe a itty bitty piece of dried fish on top, all swimming in a puddle of grease. I just loved it! Probably haven’t had any for 50 years! Wow, you mean I can actually make it?? Your recipe sounds and looks so much more appetizing. Gotta give it a try for sure! Thanks for bringing back the memories.

By: dieter

dieter — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:05:17 +0000

I so enjoyed this post, Synesthesia to the max! I so love all things preserved and fermented.
I have been experimenting with chinese dried salt fish. My hours of internet searches yielded
very little or incomplete information on using salt fish as a flavoring ingredient My aim is to make a common casserole served at many chinese restaurants, that is eggplant, chicken with salt fish. What I need to know is how to prepare the dried salt fish and if you should happen to have a recipe for such a dish I would thank you for the rest of my days. In the mean time I will try your recipe for steamed pork cake. Thank you sooooo much. Dieter

By: L.A.

L.A. — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:18:19 +0000

Mmm. I’ve made this dish many times since our field trip to Tin Tin, but definitely not as pretty and not as fancy as you’ve made it here. At my cousins’ annual Chinese New Year potluck, we once had four dueling versions of this dish (there are eight “kids” in this one branch of the family)…Which was great for the rest of us! At New Sun Hong Kong on Columbus and Broadway in SF, there is a hom yu gai claypot, which my Mexican-born husband derided the first time with “Why do Chinese want to make fish-flavored chicken? Chicken should taste like chicken and fish should taste like fish” That stopped once he tasted it.
- Lisa