Sichuan Cuisine · FFET10204
Wanzhou grilled fish
A whole fish grilled and then set in an iron pan with a bean-paste sauce and vegetables, a dish of Wanzhou in Chongqing.
A round white china plate has golden whole fish in pooled red bean sauce with cumin powder, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, ginger, scallion, shiitake, fresh chilies and cilantro, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
The regional cooking of Sichuan and Chongqing, known for its wide range of flavour types.
Wanzhou grilled fish is a Sichuan dish from Wanzhou District in Chongqing: a whole fish grilled, then set in an iron pan and served with a bean-paste sauce and vegetables. A January 2, 2025 report records a local belief that the dish came upriver from downstream to Wanzhou and is close to Wushan grilled fish, differing in how the vegetables are laid out. No dated source or inventor was found, and this entry does not decide where it began. Figures published on September 3, 2026 show Wanzhou grilled fish has 57 flavors and shops in more than 20 countries.
What
Wanzhou grilled fish is a whole fish grilled, then set in an iron pan and served with a bean-paste sauce and vegetables.1,4,5
When
No dated text recording the dish's origin or inventor was found; a 2025 report also gives no origin date.1,2
Where
Wanzhou grilled fish belongs to Sichuan cuisine and is a dish of Wanzhou District in Chongqing. Locals believe it came upriver from downstream to Wanzhou and is close to Wushan grilled fish, differing in how the vegetables are laid out. Wanzhou is also regarded as the dish's home and the birthplace of grilled fish.1,2,4,5
How
The whole fish is grilled and then put in an iron pan with a bean-paste sauce and vegetables. The 2 home recipes each change this: one scores a whole fish, marinates it for 1 hour and bakes it for about 30 minutes with shiitake, fresh chilies and onion; the other sears fillets on the stove and sets them on a base of dried chilies, pickled chilies, bean paste and Sichuan pepper, with potato, mushrooms, celtuce and wood ear.1,4,5
Why
The available material does not explain why the dish arose, and this entry does not guess.1,2,3,4,5
Impact and influence
Figures published on September 3, 2026 show Wanzhou grilled fish has 57 flavors and shops in more than 20 countries, with nearly 30 seasoning companies based locally and seasoning output worth 3.3 billion yuan. These figures were not checked separately, and no intangible heritage listing was verified for the dish.3
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home, in the oven, without the charcoal and iron pan of a restaurant. The two named recipes I looked at, an oven-baked whole fish and a stovetop version with seared fillets, are both home versions of the restaurant dish. I follow the oven recipe: 1 tablespoon of bean paste, 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin, five-spice powder, chili powder and Sichuan pepper, 2 teaspoons of salt, 10 shiitake, 2 to 3 fresh chilies and 1 onion are its amounts for two; the one-hour marinade and about 30 minutes at 220 degrees Celsius also come from it. The size of the fish, the oil and the amounts of garlic, ginger and scallion are my own choices. I part the flesh at the thickest point with a chopstick and call it done when it flakes and is no longer translucent by the bone.
Ingredients
- Whole fish 1, about 700 g, cleaned
- Broad bean chili paste (doubanjiang) 1 tablespoon (about 15 g)
- Ground cumin 1 teaspoon
- Five-spice powder 1 teaspoon
- Chili powder 1 teaspoon
- Sichuan peppercorns 1 teaspoon, lightly crushed
- Salt 2 teaspoons
- Garlic 4 cloves, crushed
- Ginger 4 slices, shredded
- Scallion 2, cut into pieces
- Cooking oil 2 tablespoons
- Shiitake mushrooms 10
- Fresh chilies 2 to 3, cut into pieces
- Onion 1, shredded
- Cilantro a small handful
Steps
- Rinse the fish, pat it dry with paper towels, and score it three times on each side.
- Mix the bean paste, cumin, five-spice powder, chili powder, peppercorns, salt, garlic, ginger, scallion and oil into a paste, rub it over the fish and inside the belly, and marinate it in the refrigerator for an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Spread the onion, shiitake and fresh chilies in a baking tray and lay the marinated fish on top.
- Bake for about 30 minutes. Take it out and part the flesh at the thickest point with a chopstick: it is done when it flakes and is no longer translucent by the bone. If it is not, bake another 5 minutes and check again.
- Scatter the cilantro on top and bring the tray to the table, to be eaten hot.
Tips
- I score the fish fairly deep so the paste can reach the flesh; this is my own way.
- If you have no oven, the other recipe's stovetop method is an option: it sears fish fillets and then cooks them on a base of bean paste and chilies, using fillets rather than a whole fish.
Allergens: fish, soy, wheat