Tendre fish fillet poached in seasoned water, then topped with spices, Sichuan boiled fish is tasty, pungent and super addictive.
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Pin ItI 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. Another Sichuan classic, Suan Cai Yu (Sour Vegetable Fish), shares similar characteristics.
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 (Don’t fancy fish, try Sichuan Boiled Beef instead).
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 the recipe card below, 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 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
For the spices
- 1/2 teaspoon cooking oil
- 15 dried chilli
- 2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn, see note 2
For the vegetable
- 1 teaspoon cooking oil
- 250 g celery, cut into thin strips, or bean sprouts
For the broth
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- 2 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
- 1 stalk scallions, chopped
- 1.5 tablespoon Sichuan chilli bean paste, see note 3
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 400 ml hot water, or chicken stock
For garnishing
- Coriander, chopped
- 2 tablespoon 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
Your Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Would salmon work with this recipe?
Salmon isn’t a traditional choice. Since it becomes quite flakey after cooking, it isn’t ideal for this dish in my opinion.
Thank you for sharing this recipe and the techniques with us, exceptional! The balance of flavors, heat, and buttery texture of the fish was delicious and rivals a restaurant experience.
Thanks
Easy to follow.
Great results.
I used Teway seasoning mix, which came with three pouches – salt pepper cornstarch – crushed red chili’s – paste for boil
Catfish
Excelente como siempre Wei. Tus indicaciones y consejos son demasiados útiles. Muchas gracias 😘!!
Soy de padre chino y de madre peruana. Vivo en Lima-Perú.
Hi Virginia! I had to use Google Translate to understand what you’re saying, but so happy to know you find my recipe helpful.
Slices of slivered carrots and diced baby corn is how I usually make this
savory dish. Black mushroom and black fungus is also put in with
Chinese cabbage and American celery slices to round up the vegetable
medley. I add Jalepeno peppers to add additional kick
Thank you Mason for sharing your ideas.
I love it I try it in restaurant and I love it I wanna try it ..thanks for sharing your recipe
Made this today.. Absolutely Superb !!
Thank you x
My pleasure to share Rob. Glad you’ve enjoyed the dish!
What is the best fish to use for this recipe? I followed your recipe as close as I could, but I could not get all of them. I bought flounder, and it turned out not very good. The vegetables and sauce was good. Thx.
As I mentioned in the recipe note, You may use catfish, cod, sea bass, pangasius, etc. Grass carp is great too is you can get it.
Delicious! We used chicken instead of fish in this recipe and it was fantastic, we’ll definitely be making this again. Thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂
Yes, chicken would taste wonderful too. Glad you’ve enjoyed it!
Awesome, love it