Tendre fish fillet poached in seasoned water, then topped with spices, Sichuan boiled fish is tasty, pungent and super addictive.
I still remember exactly where I ate Sichuan boiled fish (Shui Zhu Yu, 水煮鱼) for the first time. It was a tiny little restaurant specializing in Sichuan cuisine hidden in a quiet neighbourhood of Beijing. At that moment, I only knew a few famous Sichuan dishes, such as Mapo tofu, Kong pao chicken, Shredded pork with garlic sauce, etc.. I found Sichuan boiled fish so stunning that later on it became the one dish that I always order whenever it’s on the menu.
It’s tender & succulent
Literally, the Chinese name of Sichuan boil fish “Shui Zhu Yu (水煮鱼)” means water boiled fish. The marinated fish slices are poached briefly in seasoned water. They taste very tender, succulent and packed with flavour.
To achieve the best result, I recommend you use fresh fillets instead of frozen ones. In China, restaurants often have fish tanks from which the customers can choose live fish to be freshly prepared for this dish.
It’s super spicy
As one of the most pungent Chinese dishes, authentic Sichuan boiled fish is famous for its hotness. My friend Junyang adored this dish but unfortunately, she has a low tolerance for spicy food. She used to rinse the fish in a glass of water to reduce the hotness. And little by little she has eventually increased her tolerance.
In my recipe, you can see that the spiciness comes from the generous use of 3 ingredients: dried chilli, Sichuan chilli bean paste and chilli powder.
It gives you a numbing sensation
Sichuan boiled fish is also pungent in another way: it delivers an intensive numbing sensation to your mouth by using quite a lot of Sichuan pepper (it’s an acquired taste but very addictive once you become accustomed to it).
You might have heard or used regular Sichuan pepper (Huajiao, 花椒) which is red in colour. In fact, there is another type of Sichuan pepper called Majiao (麻椒) which has the same shape and size but is green in colour. It’s often used in Sichuan boiled fish to enhance the fragrance. However, you can use regular Sichuan pepper if you can’t find the green ones.
It’s easy to cook!
Many people find it intimidating to cook Sichuan boiled fish at home. I was one of them until I had a try. It’s pretty straight forward. There’s no particular cooking skill involved. As long as you have all the ingredients to hand and follow a detailed, well-written recipe, nothing will go wrong.
When reading my recipe, you will notice that I put ingredients in several groups. This corresponds to different cooking steps. Please note that cooking oil is listed in different groups for various purpose. The finished dish doesn’t taste greasy despite the generous use of oil. The oil is essential to draw out the full fragrance of the spices.
Sichuan boiled fish (Shui Zhu Yu, 水煮鱼)
Ingredients
For the fish
- 250 g skinless, boneless fish fillet, 9oz (see note 1)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch white pepper
- 1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tsp corn starch
For the spices
- ½ tsp cooking oil
- 15 dried chilli
- 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorn, see note 2
For the vegetable
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 250 g celery, cut into thin strips, or bean sprouts
For the broth
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, minced
- 1 stalk scallions, chopped
- 1.5 tbsp Sichuan chilli bean paste, see note 3
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 400 ml hot water, or chicken stock
For garnishing
- Coriander, chopped
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
Instructions
Marinate the fish
- Slice the fish fillet diagonally. Marinate with salt, white pepper, rice wine & corn starch.
Fry the spices
- In a wok (or a deep frying pan), fry dried chilli and Sichuan pepper in oil over a low heat until fragrant (do not burn them). Chop coarsely when cooled. Set aside.
Cook the vegetable
- In the same wok, heat up oil over a medium heat, stir in celery. Cook for 1.5 minutes or so (30 seconds if using bean sprouts instead). Transfer to a serving bowl. Set aside.
Make the broth
- Heat up oil in the wok, fry garlic, ginger and spring onion. Add Sichuan chilli bean paste and chilli powder. Pour in water (or chicken stock). Bring it to a full boil.
Cook the fish
- Gently place the fish slices into the wok. When cooked, pour the fish and the soup onto the vegetable.
Garnishing
- Top with fried spices and coriander. Heat up oil then pour over to sizzle the spices. Serve immediately with plain rice.
NOTES
There is no doubt that I dearly love Sichuan cuisine. I’m looking forward to writing more recipes for those of you who share the same passion. At the meantime, check out my Culinary Tour of China in which I will guide you to explore the real beauty of Sichuan food in Chengdu(UNESCO City of Gastronomy).
Have a lovely day!
I can’t wait to try this!
Thank you Rachel! Tell me how you like it!
I can’t wait to try this. I will pick up some chili bean paste tomorrow and make this for sure. Thank you for shareing and making that possible.
You are welcome Rachael! Happy cooking!
Excellent recipe. This is authentic Shui Zhu Yu. I live in Shanghai, so I am able to find all the necessary ingredients quite easily. I use grass carp as the fish to keep it more traditional; the local market sells the fish alive, and I have the guy cut the fish up for me too. This tastes better than any restaurant’s version I have had.
Thank you Jason for your kind comment. Yes! Fresh fish does make a difference. I miss wet markets in China where you can get all the fresh ingredients. Enjoy your life in Shanghai!
There is a local restaurant that serves their version of this dish and calls it “Swimming Fire Fish.” It is one of my favorite dishes! I am so excited that you have shared this recipe! I can’t wait to create this dish at home!
Good luck in the kitchen Bill!
Hi! Perhaps I’m a bit of an oddball, but I think the best version of this dish is made not with fish or beef, but with chicken. I’m just wondering – if I want to try this recipe but with chicken, can I just simply replace the fish with chicken, or is there also something else I need to be aware of?
Hi Michael! You can simply follow this recipe for a chicken version. For better texture and taste, I suggest you cut the chicken into thin slices and do not overcook it in the water (stock). Happy cooking!
Wonderful recipe, I’ve been preparing this with beef. One thing I’m struggling with: achieving this lovely deep red colour after pouring the hot oil on top. I use the Pixian Dou Ban chilli bean paste, which is dark brown (whereas those bean pastes I see on instruction video’s are pretty red). Well, two things: how much oil should be poured on top at the end, ideally? I find it hard to find the right ratio between sauce and oil. Thanks!
Hi Paul! The colour of Pixian Dou Ban chilli bean paste may vary depends on the brands (As shown in the instruction photos above, my one is quite dark too). The red colour of this dish also comes from the chilli powder so you can achieve a brighter colour by adding more chilli powder. Cooking for my family, I usually pour 2 tablespoons of hot oil over the spicy topping. But in Chinese restaurants, chefs tend to pour much more oil (and much more dried chilli as well) to make the dish tastier. Please feel free to increase the volume of the oil if you wish. Hope this is helpful.
My husband and I love authentic Sichuan food and make it regularly at home. We found a Chengdu restaurant near us and tried the food and we crave for it all the time. Last night we tried this recipe and loved it! We added Bokchoy to it to add some greens and it was delicious! we will buy the green peppercorn when we are in an Asian store next time….cannot wait to try it with chicken or Pork! Thanks for sharing! Can you please share your website for other recipes like this? Thanks, we like the detailed step by step and groupings…..makes it easy to make.
Hi Hema! So happy to hear you and your husband liked my recipe. I LOVE Sichuan cuisine and will surely share more similar recipes.
This dish was amazing. I have made a few recipes from your site, all great, but this was as you said, easy and so good. Thumbs up from my family. This is on my top ten favorite go to recipes for sure. Thank you for sharing your passion. Best, Lee
You are more than welcome Lee! This is one of my favourite dishes too. I used to eat it very often with my friends in China and we usually had a huge bowl and some plain rice. No other dishes needed. Very happy to know you and your family enjoyed it!
I just made this for my husband and myself, and we love it! The only substitution I’d make next time is reduce the amount of dry red chilies as we found that we prefer the spice of the sichuan peppercorns to that of the chilies. We made it with cod. Other than that, everything was spot on! Thank you for this easy recipe!
Great news to hear! Very happy to know you find my recipe easy and tasty. Enjoy your kitchen adventure!
Wonderful! Been looking for this for some time. As an exchange student in Singapore last year, this became my favorite dish! I’m determined to learn to make it. Will be a challenge to find some of the ingredients in Sweden but hopefully a lot can be ordered online. Xie xie ni!
You are welcome Danne! Good luck on searching for the ingredients.
Great, thank you! I raise tilapia in an aquaponics garden. I used this recipe with a little mod (doubled recipe, less sichuan pepper, and more garden greens) and it was wonderful with the fresh fish. Tilapia really take on the flavors. It was a hit!
You are welcome! Very happy that you liked my recipe and thank you for sharing your cooking experience.
Hi! What type of chili powder do you recommend? I’m assuming it’s not the same kind that I put in my taco seasoning….? Thank you! Can’t wait to try making this at home. I love it at my favorite Houston restaurant, Chengdu Taste!
Hi Meredith. I usually use chili powder either from China or India. Please feel free to use any chili powder that’s available to you. If your taco seasoning contains other spices/flavoring other than ground chili, it might not be a good idea to use it in this dish.
Wow, your pictures are so beautiful and look appetizing.
Can I use your pictures for my own internal presentation?
I am trying to do some introduction about SiChuan Food.
Thanks Min! I guess you mean using my images for your school/college presentation. If that’s the case, please feel free to do so. It would be nice if you give credit to my blog.
Thanks. Yup, I will put your blog as one of the reference.
Hi! Thank you so much for the recipe. Quick question- I have read some recipes that use egg white in the marinade. Do you know why and why do you not use it in yours? Just wondering but either way I can’t wait to try!
Egg white is used to tenderize the fish. If you are using the right type of fish and it’s fresh enough, I don’t think egg white is necessary. Using cornstarch for tenderizing should be enough. Hope this helps.
I made this just last night, it was amazing. The only thing I changed was I used soybean sprouts. I was sweating as I ate but couldn’t stop eating it! Thank you for the recipe!
My pleasure Julie! In fact, soybean sprouts are commonly used in this dish in Chinese restaurants. Unfortunately, I don’t have easy access to it.
I had been looking for a recipe to use my erjingtiao and tribute peppers along with a jar of doubanjiang that i purchase from on online Chendu supplier. This recipe hit me on so many levels with the crunchiness of the celery, the tenderness of the fish, the savory broth and the tingling spiciness. I really like the way the recipes are presented. it was very easy to follow and I am encouraged to try more. I’m so glad i found you, Wei.
So happy to hear that Annier! Glad that my recipe worked well for you. Happy cooking!
Thanks for this recipe – it’s super yum! I used basa and bok choy, worked great.
You’re welcome Aaditi! Very happy to know you enjoyed it!
Hi. I feel like I missed it somewhere, How long are we supposed to marinate the fish? Thank you.
Hi Mary! You don’t need to count the time. Just follow the sequence suggested in my recipe. Marinate the fish first. It will be ready by the time you need to add it to the broth. Happy cooking!
I’ve made this recipe a few times now. Should I put the peppers and peppercorns in cheesecloth so that they don’t ruin the dish with pieces/grittiness?
Thank you Karen for trying our my recipe! The authentic version of this dish is supposed to be cooked this way. I don’t think it’s a good idea to wrap dried chillies and Sichuan pepper with cheesecloth as you need to pour hot oil directly over the spices. Unlike many other dishes, you’re not suppose to eat the broth/sauce or spices but only the fish pieces.
Not sure what went wrong. This turned out very bland. There was some spice; it really wasn’t lack of heat, just lack of flavor. Spices and ginger/garlic had nice smell during sautee, but then those flavors disappeared. Tasted like unseasoned, totally plain fish.
Don’t really understand the “marinade” of the fish. Quantity of materials for that step could not possibly marinate; one side could sit in it, that’s all.
What am I getting wrong?
Sorry to hear that Chris! This dish shouldn’t taste bland at all? Have you used Sichuan chilli bean paste (辣豆瓣酱) which provides the key flavour? Based on your comment, I guess you might have overlooked this ingredient.
Thanks a lot for this recipe. Te Sichuan fish is in my opinion the Emperor among all of superb Sichuan dishes. Sichuan cuisine rules without any doubt.
You’re welcome Filip! Sichuan food is so addictive, right?
Awesome, love it