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Milk-Broth Fish Pot (Shandong Style)
Carp chunks pan-fried golden, then simmered eight minutes in a milky pork-and-chicken-bone broth with tofu, shrimp, ham and mushrooms — Shandong's white-soup fish pot. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 奶汤锅子鱼鲁菜, report 97.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 奶汤锅子鱼鲁菜_97.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 20 minutesCook: 50 minutesTotal: 1 hour 10 minutesServings: 2Difficulty: MediumRegion: ShandongFlavour: Milky, savoury, delicate
Why this works
The broth is the dish, and it is made, not bought: pork bones and chicken frames simmered forty minutes without topping up the water, until the liquid turns white as milk, then strained. Topping up mid-simmer thins the emulsion and the broth never whitens properly, which is why the report forbids it. The fish is fried separately until golden on both sides — about three minutes — so it holds its shape in the pot instead of dissolving into the soup. Then everything meets for just eight minutes on low heat: longer and the fish overcooks and breaks, shorter and the tofu never absorbs the broth. Ham is already salty, so the salt goes in last and light, at five grams for the pot, and the finished dish is garnished simply with scallion or coriander so nothing competes with the milky broth. Ladle it generously: the broth is meant to be drunk as well as eaten, and the pot should arrive at the table still steaming.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carp, cleaned, cut into 3 cm cubes | 7 oz | 200 g | Net flesh. Any firm white fish cut into chunks works (adaptation). |
| Firm tofu, cut into 2 cm slices | 3.5 oz | 100 g | — |
| Shrimp, peeled | 1.8 oz | 50 g | — |
| Ham, sliced thin | 1 oz | 30 g | — |
| Shiitake mushrooms, halved | 1 oz | 30 g | Fresh or soaked dried. |
| Pork bones | 3.5 oz | 100 g | Blanched to remove scum. |
| Chicken frames | 1.8 oz | 50 g | Blanched to remove scum. |
| Water, for the broth | 8⅓ cups | 2 litres | Yields about 1 litre strained; use 500 ml in the pot and keep the rest. |
| Salt | 1 tsp | 5 g | Added late, since the ham is already salty. |
| Scallion | 0.5 oz | 15 g | — |
| Ginger | 0.35 oz | 10 g | — |
| Cooking wine | 2 tsp | 10 ml | For marinating the fish. |
| Neutral oil, for frying the fish | 2 tbsp | 30 ml | Report gives no quantity; 30 ml is the home adaptation. |
Equipment
- Large pot for the broth
- Wok or skillet for frying the fish
- Strainer for the broth
Steps
- Marinate the fish and blanch the bones. Clean the carp, cut into 3 cm cubes, and marinate with cooking wine, salt and ginger slices for 10 minutes. Cut the tofu into 2 cm slices, slice the ham thin and halve the mushrooms. Blanch the pork bones and chicken frames to remove blood foam and drain.
- Simmer the milk broth. Put the blanched bones and frames in a pot with 2 litres of cold water. Bring to a boil, skim the foam, then simmer on medium heat for 40 minutes without adding water, until the broth is thick and white as milk. Strain; you should have about 1 litre.
- Fry the fish. Heat oil in a pan and fry the fish cubes on medium heat until golden on both sides, about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Do not scorch them — scorched fish makes the broth bitter.
- Combine and simmer. Pour 500 ml of the milk broth into a clean pot, add the fried fish, tofu, shrimp, ham and mushrooms, and bring to a boil on high heat. Turn to low heat and simmer 8 minutes, never more than 10, until the fish is cooked through in whole pieces and the tofu has absorbed the broth. Season with salt, plate, and garnish with scallion or coriander.
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Technique: no topping up, eight minutes only
The milk broth's whiteness comes from fat and collagen emulsified by a sustained simmer, and adding cold water halfway breaks that emulsion — so measure the full two litres at the start and leave it alone. The eight-minute simmer is equally strict: it is long enough for tofu to drink the broth and shrimp to cook, but short enough that fried fish cubes stay intact. If the fish breaks, it was either fried too lightly or simmered too long; if the broth is thin, it was topped up or simmered too briefly.
Variations
- Sea bass: use sea bass chunks instead of carp (adaptation).
- Extra broth: serve the remaining strained broth as a soup alongside, or freeze it for another pot (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
Why is the broth white?
From pork bones and chicken frames simmered until their fat and collagen emulsify — no milk is involved.
Can I use store-bought stock?
You can, but it will not be milky or as rich; the forty-minute bone simmer is the dish's core (adaptation).
Why did my fish fall apart?
Usually simmered longer than ten minutes, or fried too gently to set a crust first.
Storage and freezing
Best eaten fresh from the pot. Leftovers keep 1 day refrigerated; reheat gently to a simmer and expect the fish to soften. The strained milk broth alone freezes well for up to 1 month.
Milk-Broth Fish Pot (Shandong Style) — Recipe Card
Golden fried carp simmered in a milky bone broth with tofu, shrimp, ham and mushrooms.
Prep: 20 minutesCook: 50 minutesTotal: 1 hour 10 minutesServings: 2
Ingredients: 200 g carp; 100 g tofu; 50 g shrimp; 30 g ham; 30 g shiitake; broth: 100 g pork bones, 50 g chicken frames, 2 litres water; 5 g salt; 15 g scallion; 10 g ginger; 10 ml cooking wine; 30 ml oil.
Steps: 1) Marinate fish 10 minutes; blanch bones. 2) Simmer bones 40 minutes without topping up; strain. 3) Fry fish golden, about 3 minutes. 4) Simmer all in 500 ml broth 8 minutes, season, serve.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 奶汤锅子鱼 (data/reports/97.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. The fish substitute and the frying-oil quantity, not given in the report, are adaptations and are labelled as such. Original poster image: clouchef.com (奶汤锅子鱼鲁菜_97.jpeg).