Sichuan Boiled Fish

Fish slices poached in a thin broth, with hot oil poured over chillies at the table.

Fish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 600 g firm white fish fillets, sliced on the diagonal about 5 mm thick
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 300 g beansprouts or sliced Chinese cabbage

Broth

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chilli bean paste
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• 800 ml hot water

To finish

• 120 ml vegetable oil, for pouring over
• 15 dried red chillies, snipped open
• 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
• 2 spring onions, sliced

Method

1. Toss the fish slices with the salt, egg white and cornflour and leave them 15 minutes. That coating is what keeps thin slices whole in liquid; without it they shred.
2. Blanch the beansprouts for 30 seconds and spread them in the bottom of a deep serving bowl. They are not a garnish — they hold the fish off the base so it does not overcook.
3. Fry the chilli bean paste in the 2 tablespoons of oil over a low heat for a minute, then add the garlic and ginger for another 30 seconds.
4. Add the wine and the hot water and bring it to a simmer. Taste it now: this broth is thin on purpose and should be seasoned before the fish goes anywhere near it.
5. Slide the fish in a few slices at a time and poach them for 90 seconds, no more. They are done when they turn opaque at the edges; they will carry on cooking in the bowl.
6. Lift the fish out with a slotted spoon onto the beansprouts, then pour the broth over.
7. Scatter the dried chillies, peppercorns and spring onions over the top.
8. Heat the 120 ml of oil until it shimmers and a chilli dropped in sizzles at once, then pour it over the aromatics in one go. This is the whole point of the dish: the oil cooks the chillies and peppercorns on contact and the smell that comes up is what you are after. It will spit, so pour from close to the bowl.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under China · All recipes