Fish in Spicy Chili Oil 水煮魚

Here is an inspiration for your next April Fool’s joke.

Go to your favorite local Sichuan restaurant with your non-spicy food eating friends. And order the “Water-boiled fish” or Shui Zhu Yu 水煮魚in Chinese and tell your friends that this is a light dish from “healthy diet” section.

Then, just sit back and watch their ridiculous reaction once they see the dish 🙂

OK, all kidding aside but if you are ever in the market for a mouth-burning and tongue-numbing authentic mala Sichuan dish, look no further than this  “Water-boiled fish” or Fish Fillet in Spicy Chili Oil as I always prefer to call.

After all, this fish dish has all the classic Sichuan cuisine elements such as Ma (from the tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorns) and (La from spicy chili pepper), aromatic spices, and chili oil.

Yes chili oil, and in this case lots of it, is a key ingredient that holds the rich and spicy flavor in this dish. So if you ever have to skip an ingredient please make sure this is NOT the ingredient you skip.

As for the fish, I like to use white fish such as cod which, when cooked correctly, should melt in your mouth with a minor explosion from all that ma la flavor (especially if you you accidentally bite into one of those tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorns).

If you are intimidated by that thick layer of hot oil and piles of dried chili and peppercorns, you can easily adjust the recipe to suite your palate.

In fact, this recipe is meant to serves as an introduction to the famous “water-boil” dishes. You can substitute fish with any protein you prefer. The common proteins used are pork, beef, lamb, and tofu.

The spiciness level in this recipe is purposely tuned down to make the recipe more adaptable to everyone. If you are into spicy food or authentic Sichuan style, use more chili and peppercorn in the spicy broth and also double the ingredients for hot oil!

Bottom line, if you like other spicy dishes such as Sichuan hotpot, then you’ll absolutely love this dish. If you are the one who gets irrigated with the slightest trace of hot sauce, then you’ll want to skip this one.

Now without further ado, let me help you dissect this fiery Sichuan dish with step by step recipe instructions.

Print Recipe

Yield: 2-3 servings

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 35

Make this classic Fish Fillet in Spicy Hot Oil following this step-by-step recipe at yireservation.com

Ingredients:

• 1lb fresh fish fillet
• 1lb cabbage or napa
• chopped scallion and cilantro for garnish

Spicy Broth

• 1.5tbsp Sichuan Spicy Chili Paste
• 3 dried chili, cut into smaller segements
• 1tsp Sichuan peppercorn
• 3 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 slice ginger
• 1tsp sugar
• 1/2tsp five spice powder
• 1.5 cup water

Fish Marinade

• 1tsp salt
• 1tsp white pepper powder
• 1tsp cooking wine
• 1tbsp corn starch
• 1 scallions, cut to smaller pieces
• 1 slice ginger, cut to smaller pieces

Hot Oil

• 1/4 cp cooking oil
• 3-5 dried chili, cut in half

Directions:

Slice the fish filet to ¼” thick slices and transfer to a bowl. Cut up napa or cabbage and set aside Add salt, white pepper powder, and corn starch to the fish. Mix gently and set aside Heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a skillet. Add Sichuan bean paste, garlic, ginger, peppercorn, chili and sauté over low heat for 1 minute or until aromatic Add five-spice powder and stock or water and bring to boil.  Add salt to taste if necessary. Let the spicy broth simmer for about 10 minutes. At the same time, bring 4 cups of water and 1 tbsp of salt to boil in a medium pot Boil the vegetable until fully cooked. Remove the vegetable from the pot and drain off the excess water Transfer the cooked vegetable to a large serving bowl Over medium heat, add marinated fish slices to the spicy broth. Gently separate the slices with a spatula. Let fish cook for about 5 minutes or until just cooked Transfer the fish filet and spicy broth to severing bowl where the vegetable is Heat up ¼ cup of oil in a skillet until smoky, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add dried chili to the hot oil and immediately pour the hot oil onto the fish. Sprinkle some chopped scallions for garnish and serve immediately

This recipe serves as an introduction to the famous “water-boil” dishes. You can substitute fish with any protein you prefer. The common proteins used are pork, beef, lamb, and tofu. The spiciness level in this recipe is purposely tuned down to make the recipe more adaptable to everyone. If you are into spicy food or authentic Sichuan style, use more chili and peppercorn in the spcy broth and also double the ingredients for hot oil!