Huaiyang-style eel

Public reference · Home adaptation 'Soft兜' is both the name of the dish and a Huaiyang instruction about heat. '兜' means carrying the food into the dish in its sauce, holding it; 'soft' distinguishes it from dry-frying and dry-stir-frying — the shreds roll in the sauce for twenty-odd seconds and go straight to the table, kept tender by the liquid. That is why **the dish arrives with sauce in the bottom**, the eel sitting in a thin glaze; a dry plate would only be called dry-fried eel shreds. The knife work is the other test. The eel's bone is triangular in cross-section: one slanted edge is belly meat and the other two are back meat. The Huaiyang way is **to cut from the belly against the bone first, then lift the two strips off the back separately** — one back strip and two belly strips — and pick the remaining bone clean. If you are not confident, have the fishmonger bone it when you buy. Poaching has its own rules: hold the water at **90°C and never let it boil**; scallion, ginger and wine remove any smell while salt firms the flesh; the eel goes in a cloth bag so it cannot thrash; cook until the mouth opens and the body curves into a half circle. The 2018 group-standard report lists the stir-fries by name only, so **this technique comes from a public home recipe with no correspondence to the banquet's own kitchen method**; it is not a historical original. **The seat list records only the dish name, not the method; this version's technique comes from the public guide How a Huaiyang chef teaches you to make 淮扬炒软兜 at home (Sohu) and the home recipe Huai'an-style soft eel on xiachufang, and has no correspondence to the actual three-head-banquet kitchen method.** It is not a historical original or a house secret. **Safety downgrade:** the Sohu source specifies 'wild eel, 500 g'; this version **substitutes farmed eel and gives the reason** — catching, buying and transporting wild eel and other wild animals is legally restricted, and there is a parasite risk (including gnathostomiasis), so a banquet must use quarantined farmed product from a proper source and keep the paperwork. **Boning is the hard part of this dish:** the eel bone is triangular, so you cut from the belly first, then lift the two strips of meat off the back; for home preparation ask the fishmonger to do it (the xiachufang source also notes you can have the seller bone it). **Quantities, poaching temperature and stir-fry time are editorial for 4 servings and have not been kitchen-tested**; the Sohu version is a home dinner for 500 g of wild eel with onion, chives and red pepper, and this version adjusts the accompaniments and says so. **Eel is a fish and a common allergen.** Only the technique is taken; no therapeutic claims are adopted. **Contains fish (eel, a common allergen),** soy and wheat (light soy, dark soy, cooking wine); yellow rice wine and wine-based seasonings may carry other ingredients, so check labels. **Wild eel must not be used:** the cited source specifies wild eel, and this version is downgraded to farmed eel — catching, buying and transporting wild eel is legally restricted, and it carries a parasite risk including gnathostomiasis, so a banquet must use quarantined farmed product from a proper source and keep the paperwork, and the eel must be cooked through. Eel must be prepared on boards and utensils separate from fish-free dishes. Contains meat; this is not a vegetarian dish. 淮扬菜大厨手把手教你在家如何制作淮扬炒软兜，口感鲜嫩又有韧劲（搜狐，2021-07-27） — The method and quantities: 500 g wild eel with 1 onion, 30 g chives, 1 red pepper, 5 g garlic and 5 g ginger; poaching liquid of 60 g ginger, 50 g spring onion, a tablespoon (about 50 g) of salt, 2.5 tablespoons black vinegar and 20 g wine; sauce of 8 g sugar, 1 g salt, 3 g light soy, 1 g dark soy, 8 g black vinegar, 2 g wine and 1 g white pepper, with 30 g rapeseed oil and 20 g cornstarch slurry. Sequence and tips: bring water to the boil with ginger, spring onion, a tablespoon of salt, 2.5 spoons of vinegar and wine; at 90°C turn off the heat and lower the eel in a tied cloth bag, and once it stops moving open the bag and keep poaching over low heat until the mouth opens and the body curves into a half circle, then turn off, cover and leave 20–30 seconds; lift out and wash off the slime; shred the eel, clear the gut and blood clots from the belly, rinse and cut into lengths; blanch the shreds and set aside; heat oil, fry ginger and garlic, then onion, chives and red pepper until fragrant; add the eel, toss twice, pour in the sauce, turn quickly, add a little slurry, toss twice and plate. The chef's notes: scallion, ginger, wine and vinegar remove the smell while salt firms the flesh; the cloth bag stops the eel thrashing; the water must stay at 90°C and must not boil; the eel bone is triangular and the belly meat is the meat on the slanted edge, so cut from the belly first and then lift the two strips off the back; the whole run from pan to plate must be 20–30 seconds to stay tender. https://www.sohu.com/a/479740023_121046223 下厨房：淮安软兜长鱼（跟国宴大厨学做淮扬菜） — The method itself: bring half a pot of water to the boil and add in turn 75 g fine salt, 125 g wine and 125 g vinegar, add the eel and stir, then hold over low heat about 8 minutes until the mouth opens, and rinse under cool water; shred the poached eel with a tool such as a bamboo skewer, or have the seller bone it when you buy. This version's holding time and tool choice follow from this. https://m.xiachufang.com/recipe/103685254/ 扬州晚报美食团：扬州发布“三头宴”团体标准（搜狐，2018-01-18） — Seat evidence: the two stir-fries are stir-fried shrimp and Huaiyang eel, with the eel second, directly after the shrimp. The report gives dish names and groupings only, with no methods. https://www.sohu.com/a/217424559_740963 AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.

Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.