A whole large yellow croaker simmered with pickled snow vegetable and bamboo shoots into a milky-white, salt-fresh broth — a defining dish of Ningbo's Yong cuisine.
A representative dish of Ningbo (Yong) cuisine on China's Zhejiang coast, classically made with large yellow croaker from the nearby Zhoushan fishing grounds. Its exact origin is not firmly documented, but it grew out of the Ningbo coastal practice of pairing salted, lactic-fermented mustard greens (snow vegetable) with fresh seafood, and is now counted among Ningbo's ten signature dishes.
The broth is opaque milky-white and thick, salty-fresh with a faint sourness from the pickled greens. The croaker flesh pulls away in large, tender, low-bone flakes; the snow vegetable stays crisp and tangy and the bamboo shoots add a clean, fresh crunch. The fish lifts off the bone cleanly when done.
The milky-white broth is an emulsion, not added milk. Frying the croaker first, then boiling hard over high heat, breaks the rendered fish fat and skin collagen (hydrolyzed to gelatin) into fine droplets that proteins and phospholipids keep suspended as an oil-in-water emulsion; the suspended droplets scatter light, so the broth reads white — a rolling boil drives this, while a bare simmer stays clear. The snow vegetable, salted and lactic-fermented, contributes organic acids and free amino acids (glutamate) that sharpen and deepen the fish's umami, the core of Ningbo's salt-fresh profile. Pre-searing the fish in oil at about 70% heat (~190°C) sets the skin so it does not break up in the boil.
Variations
Made with large yellow croaker (大黄鱼) for the grand banquet version; small yellow croaker (小黄鱼) gives a homier everyday soup. Both are true croakers (Larimichthys genus), distinct from the look-alike fish often substituted as wild stocks declined. Winter bamboo shoots are classic; some cooks omit the shoots or thin the broth, and the leftover broth is famously poured over rice cakes or noodles.
On the Palate
Where Snow-Vegetable Yellow Croaker Soup sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 3
How it's made
6 steps · 20 min
- 112 min
Scale and gut a whole large yellow croaker, trim the fins, and score a few shallow cuts on each side of the thick flesh; pat dry. Rinse the pickled snow vegetable and chop fine; slice the bamboo shoots thin.
- 22 min
Briefly scald the croaker in boiling water to firm the skin, then lift out.
- 33 min
Heat lard or oil to about 70% heat, add ginger slices and scallion knots, and pan-sear the croaker lightly on both sides.
Watch outPan-sear the croaker lightly on both sides first — that browned fat is what later boils up into the milky-white broth.
- 46 min
Pour in the Shaoxing wine, then add enough boiling water to cover; cover and cook over high heat about 5 minutes until the eyes turn white and the broth begins to turn milky.
- 54 min
Remove the scallion and ginger; add the bamboo slices and snow vegetable and boil hard so the broth turns fully milky-white.
Watch outBoil hard once the snow vegetable goes in so the broth turns fully milky-white — a gentle simmer leaves it thin and clear.
- 63 min
Season with salt to taste, simmer a minute more, scatter with chopped scallion, and serve in a deep bowl with the broth.
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