Aquatic

Yangshuo Beer Fish

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 1092 kcal

Yangshuo Beer Fish is a famous local dish from Yangshuo, Guangxi. It uses fresh fish from the Li River, pan-fried with scales and braised with beer instead of water. The crispy scales, tender meat, and the unique blend of beer aroma with a slight tang from the tomatoes create a rich and distinctive taste. The fish is rich in high-quality protein and minerals. Paired with tomatoes and chili, it is rich in vitamins and appetizing. Cooking difficulty is medium; slightly challenging for beginners, but following the steps closely will ensure success. Ready in about 30 minutes.

Spicy Braised Crab

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 468 kcal

This dish is a seasonal limited flavor from Pinghu, Zhejiang, featuring a salty and savory autumn taste. The rich crab roe is coated in a savory sauce, and the crab meat is fresh and sweet; the sauce is exceptionally good for rice. It is rich in high-quality protein and trace elements. Moderate difficulty, suitable for beginners with basic skills; the whole process takes about 30 minutes from preparation to serving.

Stir-fried Carp with Cabbage

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 792 kcal

Stir-fried carp with cabbage is a flavorful, rich home-style stew. The fish is soft and tender, and the cabbage is sweet and delicious, absorbing the juices. It represents a typical Northern Chinese flavor. Carp is rich in high-quality protein and unsaturated fatty acids, while the cabbage provides fiber and vitamins, making for a balanced diet. The process involves pan-frying and stewing, which has some difficulty but is not too complex. It is suitable for those with basic cooking experience, or an estimated 40 minutes from prep to serve.

Braised Scallops with Egg

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 1229 kcal

Braised Scallops with Egg is a traditional home-cooked dish in Fuzhou, Fujian. The scallop meat is coated in egg liquid and pan-fried to a crunchy outside and tender inside, boasting the savory aroma of onion and light soy sauce. Scallops are rich in high-quality protein and trace elements like zinc and iron, pairing perfectly with eggs for a balanced nutritional profile. The difficulty is moderate; it requires mastering the frying heat but the steps are not cumbersome, with an estimated preparation time of about 30 minutes.

Garlic Shrimp

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 456 kcal

This traditional Cantonese dish is known for being fresh, fragrant, tender, and smooth. The shrimp meat is sweet and springy, while the garlic aroma is rich. Sea shrimp is rich in high-quality protein and trace elements like calcium and selenium. Paired with garlic, it helps kill bacteria and stimulates the appetite. The preparation is very simple, involving just a few steps: preparing the shrimp, spreading the sauce, steaming, and pouring on the oil. Beginners can easily handle this, taking about 15 minutes in total.

Garlic Butter Shrimp

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 526 kcal

Garlic Butter Shrimp is a classic Western seafood dish. The shrimp meat is tender and springy, wrapped in rich garlic and butter with a faint aroma of lemon. Rich in high-quality protein and providing energy from the butter, it is suitable for a quick nutritional boost. The method is simple, using only a few common ingredients, making it easy even for beginners. From prep to serving, it takes about twenty minutes.

Crab Hot Pot (Rou Xie Bao)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 2111 kcal

This dish is rich and savory: the crab is sweet and slightly spicy, the potatoes soft, the rice cakes chewy, and the sauce is fantastic over rice—a hearty dish perfect for gatherings. It's rich in quality protein and trace elements. It's moderately difficult: you need to handle live crab and control heat and seasoning ratios, which is a bit challenging for beginners. Expect about 1 hour in total.

Mustard Butter Tiger Prawns

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 637 kcal

The highlight of this dish is the unique combination of butter and mustard. The shrimp meat is firm and tender, and the sauce is rich and aromatic—it is a modern-style seafood dish. Rich in high-quality protein and various trace elements, it is nutritionally balanced. The difficulty is moderate; as long as you prepare ingredients in advance and control the heat, beginners can succeed. From cleaning the live shrimp to serving, it takes about 30 minutes.

Red Braised Fish Head (Hong Shao Yu Tou)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 333 kcal

Red Braised Fish Head is a classic home-cooked dish. It is rich in collagen, the meat is tender, and the sauce is salty, fresh, and mildly spicy, making it very appetizing. Fish heads are rich in high-quality protein, lecithin, and unsaturated fatty acids, which are beneficial for nourishing the skin and brain. Due to the need to handle raw fish and chop bones, the difficulty is slightly higher, and it is not recommended for complete beginners to operate alone. The entire process (including marinating) takes about 2–2.5 hours.

Braised Carp in Soy Sauce

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1051 kcal

Braised carp is a homestyle Shandong dish. The fish is fried first then braised: the skin is lightly firm, the flesh tender, and the sweet-savory sauce carries the richness of pork belly—thick and great with rice. It's rich in quality protein and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus, and is nourishing. Frying the fish and balancing the seasonings take a bit of patience, but the steps are clear and beginners can follow them. From prep to plate, expect about 1 hour.

Red-Braised Fish

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 570 kcal

Red-braised fish is a classic home-style dish with rich flavor: savory, fresh and slightly sweet, with tender fish that soaks up the sauce, a much-loved Chinese braise. Fish is rich in quality protein and unsaturated fatty acids, and its nutrients are easily absorbed. You need to handle raw fish and pan-fry it, and there are quite a few steps, so it is a bit of a challenge for beginners, but following the recipe you can succeed. From prep to serving it takes about 40 minutes.

White Boiled Shrimp (Boiled Shrimp with Soy Dipping Sauce)

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 519 kcal

White Boiled Shrimp is a classic, speedy Cantonese dish. The shrimp meat is fresh, sweet, firm, and tender, offering a truly authentic flavor. Shrimp is rich in high-quality protein and various minerals; paired with the dipping sauce, it is appetizing and not greasy. The method is simple and has a high margin for error, making it very beginner-friendly. From prep to serving, it takes about 15 minutes.

Sweet and Sour Carp

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 1011 kcal

Sweet and sour carp is a classic Shandong dish: crispy outside, tender inside, perfectly sweet and sour, the fish fried golden and topped with glossy red sauce—very tempting. Fish is rich in quality protein and minerals and easy to digest. This dish isn't very beginner-friendly; it's medium-to-hard and requires mastering scoring, battering and frying temperature. It takes about 1 hour from prep to plate.

Steamed Oysters

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 184 kcal

Steamed Oysters is a home-style coastal dish that preserves the original flavor. The oyster meat is tender and juicy, carrying a faint salty sea fragrance, with the garlic and ginger bringing out a fresh sweet taste. Oysters are rich in high-quality protein and zinc, which can help boost immunity. The operation isn't complex, but lifting the boiling pot lid and handling the oyster shells requires a little caution, making it achievable for beginners. From brushing to serving, it only takes about twenty minutes.

Steamed Sea Bass

Difficulty：★★★☆☆ 385 kcal

Steamed sea bass is a classic Cantonese steamed dish: the flesh is delicate and smooth, light and fresh, preserving the fish's natural flavor as much as possible. Sea bass is rich in quality protein and DHA, nutritious and easy to digest. The dish is simple to make and very beginner-friendly; from prep to serving it takes only about thirty minutes.

Oil-Braised Prawns

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 584 kcal

This classic Shandong dish coats whole prawns in a savory-sweet sauce; the finished dish is glossy red and the meat firm and springy. Prawns are rich in high-quality protein and astaxanthin and low in fat, making them a nourishing yet light ingredient. You need to make scallion oil, trim the prawns, braise and reduce the sauce, which takes some control of heat and seasoning, so it suits cooks with some experience. It takes about 40 minutes in total.

Boiled Fish (Shuizhu Yu)

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 248 kcal

Boiled Fish is a classic Sichuan dish known for its numbing spiciness and seductive aroma, featuring tender fish meat. Basa fish is rich in high-quality protein and has low fat content, making it a nutritious choice when paired with seasonal vegetables. It has medium difficulty, posing a slight challenge for beginners, but following the steps carefully will ensure success. Estimated preparation time is about 2 hours.

Grilled Fish

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 2152 kcal

This Sichuan-style Grilled Fish is numbing, spicy, fresh, and fragrant. The meat is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the side dishes soak up the sauce making them especially tasty with rice. Grass carp is rich in high-quality protein, pairing well with a variety of vegetables for a balanced nutritional intake. Although the process looks complicated, following the instructions makes it manageable, suitable for beginners wanting to challenge a main course. Preparation to serving takes about an hour.

Spicy Crayfish

Difficulty：★★★★☆ 571 kcal

This dish is numbing, spicy, savory and fragrant, with tender, juicy crayfish meat, a classic Sichuan-Hunan drinking snack that's clean and affordable when made at home. Crayfish are rich in quality protein and trace minerals, but the sauce is heavy in oil and salt, so enjoy it occasionally. Handling live crayfish and many spices is a bit challenging for beginners, though skipping the deveining makes it much easier. It takes about 45 minutes from prep to plate.

Pan-Seared Argentine Red Shrimp

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 309 kcal

A savory and tempting seafood quick dish. The cooked Argentine red shrimp has tender white meat, a rich and sweet flavor, and crispy shrimp shells. Rich in trace elements like iodine, phosphorus, and astaxanthin, which help boost immunity, protect the heart, and lower cholesterol. Moderate difficulty; it requires grasping the heat and turning techniques, but the steps are clear, so beginners can succeed by following the instructions. The entire process takes approximately 20 minutes.

Microwave Scallion & Ginger Black Cod

Difficulty：★★☆☆☆ 749 kcal

Microwaved fish seasoned with scallions and ginger releases a fragrant aroma when drizzled with hot oil. This is a home-style steamed fish dish with tender meat and a savory-salt taste, based on a modified Cantonese recipe. Black cod is rich in high-quality protein and Omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for heart and brain health. The process isn't complicated, but you need to master the cooking time and oil temperature, making it suitable for cooks with some experience. From preparation to table, it takes about twenty minutes.