When the dish is served, the boiling oil on the plate is still sizzling, hence the name.
Introduction: the south region of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River boasts of eels which can be found in rivers even in ditches of the farmland. There are a lot of dishes with eels as main material such as Thorny Eel Rolls, fried sliced eels, quick-fried shredded eels. This dish is known for its sizzling sound (pi-pa). To cook this dish, firstly you need to put the living eels in the boiling water, shred the eel. Meanwhile, you cook the oil in the pot to medium rare, add some shredded onions, stir-fry shredded eel in that pot, and smolder it with Shaoxing rice wine for a short while. Then you add hot soup and continue to boil it. About 2 minutes later, you add some refined salt, soybean sauce and sugar and continue to smolder it in the capped pot. Ten minutes later when the soup in the pot becomes sticky, you add some wet starch and put the dish on the plate. Then you groove in the middle of the dish, put some shredded onion in it and decorate the periphery of the dish with shredded gingers, minced onions and ham. Meanwhile, you need to heat the sesame oil to medium well in another pot, then you pour the sesame oil into the groove. After that, it must sent to the table immediately and scattered with some pepper, which needs the close cooperation between the chef and waiters or the guests will be disappointed at the absence of sizzling sounds.
Just as the saying goes in Suzhou: the dish made with eels in the period of Slight Heat tastes even better than ginseng, the dishes made with eels enjoy great popularity during June and July.
