Cooking Videos

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If you are looking to master authentic Shandong cuisine in your own kitchen, the absolute must-watch video today is 跟师父学做鲁菜 | 在家也能做出鲜嫩入味的【酱焖黄花鱼】. Yantai-style master chef Chen Zongming breaks down the classic Saucy Braised Yellow Croaker (酱焖黄花鱼), sharing professional secrets that make home-style fish preparation incredibly simple and flavorful without the mess of deep-frying.

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Recipes & Tutorials

In this fantastic lesson from the YouTube channel 鲁菜老厨陈宗明, Chef Chen and his apprentice show us how to execute a restaurant-worthy Saucy Braised Yellow Croaker (酱焖黄花鱼). Skipping the traditional restaurant deep-fry step, this home-style method starts with blanching the fish and then braising it with a savory foundation of whole garlic, ginger, scallions, and sliced pork belly. The flavor profile is defined by a balanced 1:1 mixture of sweet noodle sauce (甜面酱) and yellow soybean paste (黄酱), which are fried to aromatic perfection before simmer-braising the fish. By covering the fish with a plate directly inside the wok while simmering, the heat is beautifully trapped, guaranteeing succulent, fall-off-the-bone meat that is deeply infused with savory, umami-rich sauce.

Food Science & Tips

This video is a goldmine of culinary logic, starting with the trick of briefly blanching the fish in boiling water instead of deep-frying. Chef Chen explains that this quick water-dip washes away impurities in the skin’s crevices that cause a fishy smell, keeping the fish clean and flavorful. For seasoning, he highlights the food science of blending equal parts sweet noodle sauce and yellow soybean paste: the sweet noodle sauce provides an elegant aroma but lacks salt, while the yellow paste supplies the necessary savory depth. Finally, he demonstrates how to emulsify Sichuan peppercorn oil (花椒油) directly into the reduced braising liquid at the end, ensuring that the fragrant oil integrates seamlessly into the sauce to coat the fish beautifully rather than merely separating and floating on top.

💡 If you’d like, I can help you search the web for more traditional Shandong (Lu) recipes from Chef Chen’s channel, or we can look into the science behind other home-style braising techniques!