Sichuan Salt Recipes

SICHUAN BOILED FISH (SHUI ZHU YU, 水煮鱼)

Steps:

• Cut the fish into ¼-inch thick slices at a 45-degree angle. The goal is to get pieces of fish with a lot of surface area, as they'll shrink once cooked.
• Next, marinate the fish. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper, and 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine. Mix (best with your hand) everything well. Next, add the egg white and mix, followed by 1½ tablespoons cornstarch. Mix until the marinade starts to feel "slimy," for lack of a better term. Finally, drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil over the top--there's no need to mix it in, just drizzle it over the surface. Put the fish in the refrigerator, and marinate for about 20 minutes.
• The active cooking time takes less than 10 minutes, so make sure the rest of the ingredients are prepped while the fish is marinating, and that you're ready to eat right afterwards, because this dish is best served immediately.
• In a wok set over high heat, add the chicken stock, water, ginger, garlic, scallions, ¼ teaspoon of white pepper, and 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine. Bring it to a boil. Now is a good time to add salt to taste. Next, add the bean sprouts, and bring to a boil once more. Cook for one minute. Now turn down the heat. Using a fine-meshed strainer, spider, or large slotted spoon, scoop all of the solids out of the soup and transfer to a heat proof serving bowl. It's very important that your serving vessel be heat-proof, as you'll be pouring very hot oil into it later.
• Now, in a small pot, slowly heat up ½ - ¾ cup oil. It doesn't have to be exact, but you should use at least a ½ cup. To test whether the oil is heated to the correct temperature, dip a wooden/bamboo chopstick into the oil and look for small bubbles forming around it, but no smoke. If the oil is smoking, it's too hot!
• When the oil is heating, bring the soup back to a boil, then turn the heat down to low. Place your fish, one piece at a time, into the soup. Once all the fish is in the soup, turn up the heat and bring everything to a boil. Once boiling, immediately pour everything (fish and soup) on top of the vegetables in the serving bowl.
• Quickly sprinkle the dried chili peppers and the green Sichuan peppercorns evenly over the fish, and pour the heated oil evenly over everything. The oil should be hot enough to sizzle the chili and the peppercorns, but not hot enough to burn the spices. Serve immediately!

SICHUAN SALT

Steps:

• Coarsely grind 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds, 1 1/2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns (or 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns), 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes in a spice mill or mortar and pestle (leave some larger pieces of spice). Oh, and make extra to sprinkle on everything from chicken wings to slabs of eggplant.

SICHUAN-SPICED DIPPING SALT

Steps:

• Combine 2 tablespoons each of Sichuan peppercorns, cumin seeds, and kosher salt in a small skillet over medium heat. Heat, stirring often, until spices are toasted and very fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; let cool. Finely grind mixture in a spice mill or in a mortar with a pestle.

ROASTED SICHUAN PEPPER-SALT

Steps:

• Mix together the peppercorns and the salt in a small bowl. Transfer the mixture to a medium-sized skillet and toast over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until the mixture is fragrant and smoking and the salt begins to turn golden, five to eight minutes. Be very careful not to let the mixture burn.
• Remove from the heat and let cool. Then grind the pepper-salt until fine and sieve to remove any large pieces. Store in an airtight container.