If you are familiar with Sichuan cuisine or Sichuan style dishes, I believe that most of you have heard about the boiled series of Sichuan cuisine or in Chinese, we call “水煮，shuizhu” series and for the literal translation water boiled, but not the same with blanching. This boiling is full of flavor.
There are lot of famous water boiled dishes in Sichuan cuisine including boiled fish (boiled fish slices); water boiled sliced pork, boiled beef. Most of the dishes use slices rather than wedges or cubes because in order to keep the meat as tender as possible, the cooking time should be limited to just several minutes.
The soup base is really important for boiled fish and other water boiled dishes. And the essential ingredient for the soup base is Doubanjiang or broad bean paste and dou-chi. I strongly recommend using pixian doubanjiang which might be available in Asia stores or you can purchase from amazon: Sichuan / Pixian / Pi Xian Broad Bean Paste 16OZ (454g).Basically, broad bean paste is stir-fried with ginger, garlic and the white part of green onion, and then clean water is added. During the process, slow fire is used to simmer the taste of Doubanjiang out and make the soup base tasty.
Time flies, this recipe is firstly published in 2014 and now 7 years passed. I used to use fresh water fish like grass carp or snakehead fish. But I choose Basa fillet this time because it is more friendly to those who are not good at removing the fishbones.
Prepare the chili pepper and Sichuan Peppercorn
Heat 12 to 20 dried chili peppers with slow fire for half minute and then add 1 tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorn in wok until slightly aromatic. Move out, cool down and then roughly chop.
Steps
Cut the fillet into thin slices and then marinate with all marinating sauce. Set aside for 30 minutes or even longer. Then add cornstarch and mix well before making the dish.
Add oil in wok and fry the doubanjiang over slow fire until the oil turns red. Then place garlic, ginger and scallion in and fry until aromatic.
Then add dou-chi, Sichuan peppercorn and toasted chili pepper (half). Continue cooking for half minutes.
Load the wok with around 4 cups of water. Let the base simmer for 10 minutes over slow fire.
During this period, take another pot and blanch bean sprouts for 1 minutes and then place in the bottom of serving bowl to support fish slices. Then place the fish slices in and cook for 3 minutes. Transfer the fish slices to serving bowl.
Add soup base to serving bowl, recommend using a filter to remove the doubanjiang flakes.
Add the remaining chili pepper flakes, Sichuan peppercorn, chopped garlic and chopped scallion on top. Pour around 2 tablespoons of hot oil on top. Serve hot!
Sichuan Boiled Fish
Ingredients
- 500 g fish fillet
- 200 g bean sprouts
Marinating
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. cooking wine
- 1 tbsp. egg white
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
- 2 tsp. cornstarch
Soup Base
- 2 tbsp. cooking oil , divided
- 2 tbsp. doubanjiang
- 5 garlic cloves
- 2 green onions
- 1 inch root ginger
- half fo the fried Sichuan peppercorn
- 1 tsp. dou-chi , optional
- half of fried the peppers
- pinch of salt
- 4 cups water
Topping
- fried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorn
- 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
- 1 tbsp. chopped green onion
- 2 tbsp. hot oil
Instructions
- Prepare fish |Cut the fillet into thin slices and then marinate with all marinating sauce. Set aside for 30 minutes or even longer. Then add cornstarch and mix well before making the dish.
- Fry the pepper and Sichuan peppercorn|Heat 12 to 20 dried chili peppers with slow fire for half minute and then add 1 tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorn in wok until slightly aromatic. Move out, cool down and then roughly chop.
- Add oil in wok and fry the doubanjiang over slow fire until the oil turns red. Then place garlic, ginger and scallion in and fry until aromatic. Then add dou-chi, Sichuan peppercorn and toasted chili pepper (half). Continue cooking for half minutes.
- Load the wok with around 4 cups of water. Let the base simmer for 10 minutes over slow fire.
- During this period, take another pot and blanch bean sprouts for 1 minutes and then place in the bottom of serving bowl to support fish slices. Then place the fish slices in and cook for 3 minutes. Transfer the fish slices to serving bowl.
- Add soup base to serving bowl, recommend using a filter to remove the doubanjiang flakes.
- Add the remaining chili pepper flakes, Sichuan peppercorn, chopped garlic and chopped scallion on top. Pour around 2 tablespoons of hot oil on top. Serve hot!
This is one of our favourite dishes when going to the Hunan restaurant close to home. Tried the recipe, very tasty! Thanks for this!
Hi Marie,
This is one of the most popular Sichuan dishes that are enjoyed by people in the entire country. It is really glad to know that you like it too. Thanks for the lovely feedback.
Thanks for this recipe. My boyfriend has had this dish during work trips to Shanghai and requested it (apparently it’s a little hard to find even here in New York). I found all the ingredients at a grocery store in Queens; thanks for posting photos of the products, that really helped me locate them since I don’t speak Chinese!
I am really glad to help Summer. You are such a caring girlfriend. Happy cooking.
Are from sichuan? Amsan
Yes.
Hi i live in Germany, and we have no Chinese shops here. But I’m a fan of this dish and just ? it. I’ve lived in China for several years and really miss the people and food ? from China. How can I get the ingredients for this recipe online? Can you please suggest?
If you don’t mind you can write to me on my email, [email protected]
Thanks
Hi Riya,
Sorry for the limited information. You can try to search those ingredients on amazon.de or find online Chinese store shipping to Germany like this one.
Thank you Elaine for the photos, videos and detailed instructions. I finally cooked Sichuan boiled fish correctly with your help. Your photos make the food look absolutely delicious.
Thanks,
Charles
It is my pleasure to hear your wonderful feedback. I hope you like Sichuan boiled fish as me too.
Merry Christmas and happy cooking ahead.
Hi Elaine, I have tasted a kind of dish in Guangzhou 2 years back but I didn’t know what dish is that. It is a main dish where a whole fish was cooked on a tray filled with some pickeled veg, mushroom, tofu and some other ingredients inside. We are also given with some fresh uncooked vegetable for us to put into the tray during it is being cooked on top of a stove. It is not a fish hotpot because it is not a soup but it does have soupy gravy. It is not boiled fish either like what I have seen in your recipe. The restaurant that I went also serve deep fried “birdie” looks like pigeon. Do you happen to know what dish is that and is there anyway to find a recipe for it. I wish I can serve that during this CNY family gathering. I’ll keep my finger crossed to wait for your reply. Thank you.
Hi Ivy,
Thanks for brining that dish to me. However there are so many restaurant with slightly adapted recipes served. SO it is quite hard for me to figure the exact restaurant and recipe out. However I get a similar recipe to which you can refer https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/spicy-grilled-fish/. The cooking process should be quite similar. If you have a stove on your serving table, you can add some fresh vegetables. And for non-spicy taste, add some pickled vegetables and reduce the chili paste.
And it is not spicy either.
Thank you so much for this recipe!!
I have found my new favorite site for recipes! I was wondering about a very similar dish I came across in Qufu. I believe it was almost exactly the same as this one, but it had some sort of blood in it, I believe it was duck blood. Do you think I could just add the blood to this recipe, and if so, how much?
Hi Serena,
That one with blood tofu is named as “毛血旺” with slightly different ingredients in the pot. But the cooking method is almost the same. So go ahead and make your own with blood tofu. I would recommend adding around 1 or 2 cups.
I tried this recipe today, I do not know if I did something wrong. I felt the whole dish was a little too salty compared to the one I’ve had at restaurants. Also, I felt like it was not spicy enough 🙁
Hi Ana,
Thanks for the feedback. Usually restaurant version is spicier than homemade version. They use more chili peppers(2-3 times more at least). If you want a stronger taste, I think you can slightly add more dried peppers and reduce the salt.
I followed the written recipe and it was way too salty. Then I watched the youtube video which says use only 1 tsp of salt. The written directions says marinate with 3 tsps salt. I think that’s part of the problem
Sorry Booboo,
My fault.
I have already updated the recipe.
This is the first thing I have made from this website and it was the best thing I have ever cooked!! Thank you so much.
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback Nicola. I am really glad to be helpful.
What type of fish should I use?
Hi Tim,
I use grass carp. You can use snakehead or other fresh water fishes. Just make sure they are big enough to make enough slices.