Sichuanbraisedcod Recipes

CHINESE BRAISED FISH (HONGSHAO YU)

Steps:

• Using paper towels, pat the fish thoroughly dry. Wrap the fish in fresh paper towels while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. The goal is to make the fish as dry as absolutely possible. Use a sharp knife to score both sides of the fish three times.
• Once the prep work is done, unwrap the fish and dust it with a thin, even layer of cornstarch on both sides. This step will help keep the skin in tact during pan-frying.
• Heat the wok until it starts to smoke, and immediately add the oil and ginger slices. Reduce the heat to medium. Once the ginger slices start to brown, remove them from the wok and set aside. Carefully lay the fish in the wok, and DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER NOT TO MOVE OR TOUCH THE FISH for the next 5 minutes. You can tilt the wok around so the oil glides around to evenly brown the fish.
• After 5 minutes, shake the wok slightly to see if the fish has seared enough to stop sticking to the wok. This is when you can carefully flip the fish over and do the same process for the other side.
• Once both sides are nicely browned, add the ginger back to the wok along with the scallions, shaoxing wine, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. Keep the heat at medium low, and cook the fish by continuously spooning the cooking liquid over the fish. Cook on each side for 4-5 minutes. By now, the sauce should be cooked down and almost syrupy. Serve!
• Tip: If you want to make sure the fish is done, carefully pick apart the thickest part of the fish. If the meat readily comes apart from the bone, it's done. You can plate it so that the hole you made is facing down!

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!