Sichuan Cuisine · FFET10177
Shui Zhu Yu (water-boiled fish)
Fish slices poached in a seasoned broth, set on bean sprouts, covered with dried chilies and peppercorns and drenched in hot oil.
A deep white china bowl has pale egg-white-coated fish slices over soybean sprouts in glossy red-orange oily broth, ginger, garlic, scallion, dry chiles and green Sichuan pepper, with wood chopsticks resting beside the bowl.
The regional cooking of Sichuan and Chongqing, known for its wide range of flavour types.
Shui zhu yu is a Sichuan fish dish in which fish slices are poached in a seasoned broth, set on bean sprouts, covered with dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and drenched in smoking-hot oil. It originated in Chongqing and belongs to the Yu school of Sichuan cuisine; the available material gives no date or inventor. An article republished on a government-affairs account on February 27, 2024 names Yubei in Chongqing as its birthplace but provides no evidence.
What
Shui zhu yu is a dish of fish slices cooked in a seasoned hot broth, set on blanched bean sprouts, covered with dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and drenched in smoking-hot oil. The name means water-boiled. Grass carp or black carp slices are the traditional choice.1,3,4,5
When
The available material provides no dated record or named inventor, so who created it and in what year remain undetermined.1,3
Where
Shui zhu yu originated in Chongqing and belongs to the Yu school of Sichuan cuisine. A statistics office article republished on a government-affairs account on February 27, 2024 names Yubei in Chongqing as its birthplace but provides no evidence.1,2,3
How
The fish slices are marinated with egg white and starch, poached briefly in a seasoned broth, set on blanched bean sprouts, covered with dried chilies and peppercorns and finished with hot oil. The traditional dish uses a whole fish, while one version adapted for home cooks uses fillets. Some northern versions omit the chilies and peppercorns.1,4,5
Why
The available material does not explain the reason for this method. Shui zhu yu belongs to Sichuan's family of water-boiled dishes. The traditional dish uses a whole fish, while one home version uses fillets.4,5
Impact and influence
Shui zhu yu is a representative of Chongqing jianghu cooking and belongs to the Yu school of Sichuan cuisine. Some northern versions omit the chilies and peppercorns.1
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the Sichuan and Chongqing shui zhu yu in a simplified home version: the traditional dish uses a whole fish, and the home version uses fillets (recipe A). Both recipes come from food blogs, their authors are named: recipe A uses stock, water and soybean sprouts; recipe B builds its broth on fried chili bean paste and puts oyster sauce in the fish marinade. I follow recipe A, leaving out the bean paste and the oyster sauce, and the amounts are recipe A's. How long the slices poach I decide by their color; recipe B says 3 minutes.
Ingredients
- Fish fillets (a firm white fish) 450 g
- Salt, for the marinade 3 g
- White pepper 1 g
- Shaoxing wine 15 ml
- Egg white 1
- Cornstarch 10 g
- Stock 720 ml
- Water 480 ml
- Ginger 4 slices
- Garlic 4 cloves, lightly smashed
- Scallions 2, cut into sections
- Soybean sprouts 340 g
- Dried chilies 15 g
- Green Sichuan peppercorns 10 g
- Cooking oil 120 ml
Steps
- Slice the fish on the slant about 5 mm thick, mix in the salt, pepper, wine, egg white and cornstarch, and marinate for 20 minutes.
- Put the dried chilies and green peppercorns in small bowls, and have a large, deep, heatproof bowl ready.
- Put the stock, water, ginger, garlic and scallion sections in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the sprouts to start and blanch them until just cooked, then lift them with a slotted spoon into the large bowl and spread them flat.
- Turn the broth down to a gentle boil, slide in the fish slices one by one without stirring hard, and cook until every slice is opaque white and even the thickest has no raw color inside, usually two or three minutes.
- Pour the fish with some of the broth over the sprouts, enough for the broth to just reach the sprouts.
- Cover the fish with the dried chilies and green peppercorns. Heat the oil until small bubbles form around a chopstick dipped in it, and pour it carefully over the chilies and peppercorns until they sizzle.
Tips
- Cutting the slices an even thickness keeps the cooking time even; as it poaches I keep an eye on the thickest slice.
- The hot oil spits when it lands, so I use a fairly deep heatproof bowl and pour with my arm held well back.
Allergens: fish, egg, soy, wheat