Black vinegar fish slices with wood-ear and onion
Grass carp slices seared golden, then tossed with wood-ear fungus, onion and sweet pepper in a tangy black vinegar glaze — a sweet-and-sour plate that's great with rice.
- 30 min
- Serves 3
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Blood Stasis shows up as a dull complexion, cold hands and feet and period pain, and as Start of Winter turns colder, circulation slows further. Wood-ear and black vinegar get the blood moving, onion warms and opens, and grass carp warms the stomach — a tangy, everyday dish for better circulation.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 10 min- 1Soak the wood-ear for 30 minutes, trim off the hard bits and rinse. Toss the fish with the salt, cornflour and ½ tbsp oil and leave for 10 minutes.
- 2Mix the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and 3 tbsp water into a sauce.
- 3Heat the remaining oil in a wok and fry the fish slices in a single layer until lightly golden on both sides. Set aside.
- 4Fry the ginger and onion until fragrant, add the wood-ear and pepper and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Pour in the sauce, bring to the boil, return the fish and toss gently.
Cautions
- Wood-ear has a mild blood-thinning effect — go easy during heavy periods, if you take anticoagulants or before surgery.
Chef's tips
- Searing the fish first keeps it from breaking up. Return the fish as soon as the sauce boils — cooked too long, the vinegar loses its aroma.
The TCM view
Grass carp is sweet and warm, warming the stomach and harmonising the middle. Wood-ear fungus is sweet and neutral, cooling the blood and promoting circulation. Black vinegar is sour, bitter and warm, dispersing stasis and whetting the appetite. Onion is pungent and warm, moving qi and opening the vessels, and ginger warms the middle. Warm overall, it invigorates the blood without depleting.
