Guizhou sour fish soup

Step 1: Rinse 1 ¾ lb whole carp, tilapia or trout and pat dry. Keep a board just for the raw fish and wash it straight after.

Step 2: Heat 2 tbsp neutral oil in a wide pot or casserole over a medium heat and fry 3 cloves garlic and ½ oz fresh ginger for 1 minute, until fragrant.

Step 3: Add 1 ⅛ lb very ripe tomatoes and 2 tbsp Hunan chopped salted chillies (duo jiao) or fermented chilli paste and cook, stirring and pressing with a spoon, for 10–12 minutes, until the tomatoes have completely broken down into a thick, deep red paste and the oil starts to separate.

Step 4: Pour in 1 litre water or light fish stock, add 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, then taste: it should be clearly sour, a little salty and gently hot. Add more vinegar or salt as you like, and stir in ½ tsp mountain pepper oil (mu jiang zi) if using.

Step 5: Add 7 oz firm tofu and 7 oz bean sprouts and bring back to a simmer.

Step 6: Slide in the fish pieces, lower the heat so the soup just bubbles, and cook for 6–8 minutes without stirring, until the flesh is opaque all the way to the bone and flakes easily (145°F / 145 °F). A hard boil breaks the fish up, so keep it gentle.

Step 7: Mix 2 tbsp dried chilli flakes and ½ tsp salt in small dishes and top with 1 handful coriander and spring onion and 1 handful mint or Vietnamese coriander leaves. Bring the pot to the table, keep it hot over a burner if you have one, and let everyone dip the fish into the chilli before eating. Watch for bones.