Pepper and Tangerine Peel Tilapia Soup

Purpose:

To expel cold and warm the body core; to enhance appetite and nourish the body.  

Material:

Tilapia  （鲫鱼）                                      500 g

White pepper （白胡椒）                         6 g

Tangerine peel （陈皮）                           10 g

Fresh ginger （姜）                                  30 g
Cooking oil                                            1.5 tbs

Green onion （葱）                                  some
Salt                                                        some

Note:

Use whole tilapia - better freshly killed and cleaned; cut into three segments: head, tail, and center.  Use whole white pepper (not powder).  Tangerine peel must be dried.  All these can be purchased from Chinese grocers.  If you do not have access to a Chinese grocer, you might want to find substitutes.  Some supermarkets do supply daily fresh tilapia filets.  Whole white pepper and tangerine peel (not orange peel) should be available from some specialty stores for spices.  You can prepare your own dried tangerine peel by sun-drying or air-drying tangerine peel after you have eaten the fruit.  Collect them in an air-tight jar.  Green onion is to add some flavor and green color.

Procedure:

a.     Wash clean ginger, tangerine peel, and white pepper.  Skin ginger and cut to slices.  Add about 5 cups of water to the spices in one pot.  Bring to boil, then let simmer for 45 min.  Clean green onion and cut to small pieces.

b.     Add cooking oil to another pot, and slightly fry each side of the tilapia segments.  (You can use less oil or skip frying altogether if you need to watch out for oil intake.)

c.     Decant the liquid from “a” into the pot containing tilapia.  Bring to boil, and then simmer for 15-20 min.  Flip the fish segments once or twice during cooking.  

d.     Sprinkle green onion into the soup.  Boil for 1 min.  Add salt to your taste.  Ready to serve.

        

Comment:

From my experience, the fish tastes best right after cooking; it tastes very fresh, without any mud feeling that sometimes stays with tilapia.  The soup tastes better when it is hot; the pepper smell is a bit strong and there is a little bitter taste to the soup, which could be from the tangerine peel.  Overall, this soup leaves the body a warm feeling in the core, and is an experience of somewhat strong spices due to the relative large amount of each spice used in the recipe.

Tangerine peel （陈皮）

White pepper （白胡椒）

Tilapia （鲫鱼)