Sichuan Spicy Boiled Fish Recipe - 水煮鱼 (Shui Zhu Yu)

Name: Sichuan Spicy Boiled Fish Recipe - 水煮鱼 (Shui Zhu Yu)
Ingredients: 400 g fish filet; 5 g salt; 2 tsps Chinese cooking wine; 0.5 egg whites; 3 oz starch water; 5 tsp oil; 2 g Sichuan peppercorn; 30 dried chili; 400 g lettuce; 300 g celery; 200 g bean sprouts; 6 g sugar; 2 tbsp chili bean sauce; 10 g ginger; 40 g garlic; 0.6L hot water; 1 star anise; 2 g black pepper; 1 green onion

Source

recipe

Ingredients

400 g fish filet
5 g salt
2 tsps Chinese cooking wine
0.5 egg whites
3 oz starch water
5 tsp oil
2 g Sichuan peppercorn
30 dried chili
400 g lettuce
300 g celery
200 g bean sprouts
6 g sugar
2 tbsp chili bean sauce
10 g ginger
40 g garlic
0.6L hot water
1 star anise
2 g black pepper
1 green onion

Instructions

Slice the fish filet and marinate it for 20 minutes. Here I'm using tilapia fish filet; make sure to cut them the same thickness so they can be cooked evenly. Add salt, Chinese cooking wine, and egg whites and mix evenly. The egg whites will help keep the fish tender. Then add starch water(2g cornstarch + 1oz water) and mix evenly. Starch can prevent the fish from being overcooked. Finally, add oil to keep the fish slices from sticking together. Let it marinate for at least 20 minutes.

While the fish is marinating, let's put some heat on the dry spices to make them release their fragrance without the use of any oil. Set your stove to medium heat and cook the Sichuan peppercorn for about 3 minutes. Then add dried chili and cook together for another 3 minutes. When the peppercorn is crispy, the fragrance will be on point. During this process, you can definitely smell it. Take the spices out separately and blend into powder. If you don't have a food processor or a blender, you can also chop them with a knife. This freshly baked and blended chili powder and peppercorn powder are much more fragrant than a store-bought powder; I highly recommend doing this step.

Our next step is to stir fry the veggies and put them on the bottom of the dish. Here I used lettuce, celery, and bean sprouts to add some crunchy texture to the dish. Feel free to use your favorite vegetables. Turn the stove's heat to high, wait for the wok to become hot, and add oil. Add the celery and stir fry for 1 minute. Then add the lettuce and bean sprouts and stir fry for 2-3 minutes depending on how crunchy you would like them to be. Add a pinch of salt and sugar and mix well. Put them on the bottom of the bowl.

Now it's time to make the chili soup. Under medium heat, add oil in a hot pan. Add chili bean sauce and stir fry for about 1 minute. Add ginger(sliced) and garlic(minced) and stir fry for about 1 minute. Then add the freshly made chili powder and half of the peppercorn powder. Stir fry for another 1 minute. Please make sure to not add the ingredients all at once; otherwise, they will overpower one another. Adding them one by one creates multiple layers of fragrance and tastes.

Add hot water and star anise and let it cook for 5 minutes. When the time is up, turn down the heat to low. Add the fish slices into the soup and cook for about 4 minutes. The heat must be on low because if the heat is too high, the starch that covers the fish slices will be removed, and the fish will not be smooth and tender. Add salt, sugar, black pepper, and stir the soup gently. Finally, add starch water(4g cornstarch + 2oz water) to thicken the soup and mix well.

Place the fish slices on top of the veggies and add the chili soup. Garnish it with garlic(chopped), green onion(chopped), the rest of the peppercorn powder, and a few dried chili. Pour some hot oil at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and the fragrance of the chili and garlic will be released. This dish looks fiery red, smells amazing, and the fish slices are very tender and smooth, spicy and numbing. Of course, you can cut down the amount of chili and peppercorn depending on your preference.