Shuǐzhǔ yú, fish in fiery chilli broth

• 50 minutes
• Prep 25 minutes
• Cook 25 minutes
• Serves 4

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

• Dairy free

Ingredients

• 600g skinless, boneless thick white fish fillets, such as cod, haddock or hake
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine for cooking)
• Half a teaspoon fine salt
• 2 tablespoons cornflour
• 200g beansprouts
• 2 celery sticks, cut into 5cm batons
• Half a Chinese leaf cabbage (about 300g), cut into wide strips
• 8 tablespoons vegetable oil (5 to cook, 3 to finish)
• 15g mild dried red chillies (about 20), snipped into 2cm pieces, seeds shaken out
• 2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns (huājiāo, a pink peppercorn that makes the lips tingle)
• 3 tablespoons Pixian chilli bean paste (Píxiàn dòubànjiàng, a fermented broad bean and chilli paste)
• 5 garlic cloves, sliced (3 for the broth, 2 to finish)
• 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger (about 30g), sliced
• 3 spring onions, cut into 4cm lengths
• 1 chicken stock cube, made up to 1 litre with boiling water
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• A small handful of coriander leaves

Let's cook

1. Slice the fish on a slant into pieces about 1cm thick. Toss them with the Shaoxing wine and salt, then with the cornflour until each piece has a thin, even coat. Leave in the fridge while you get everything else ready.
2. Put the dried chillies and Sichuan peppercorns in a dry wok on a low heat and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until they smell toasty and the chillies darken slightly but do not blacken. Tip them onto a board, let them cool, then chop them roughly together.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in the wok on a high heat. Add the celery, beansprouts and Chinese leaf with a pinch of salt and stir fry for 2 minutes until just wilted but still crisp. Spread them over the bottom of a large deep serving bowl.
4. Turn the heat to medium and add 4 tablespoons of oil. Fry the chilli bean paste for 1 to 2 minutes until the oil turns red and fragrant. Add 3 cloves of the garlic, the ginger and the spring onions and stir for 30 seconds.
5. Pour in the hot stock and the sugar, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn the heat down so it barely bubbles.
6. Slide the fish in piece by piece and leave it untouched for 1 minute, then nudge it gently apart. Poach for 2 to 3 minutes more, until every piece has turned white and opaque all the way through and flakes when pressed with a fork.
7. Pour the fish and broth over the vegetables in the bowl. Scatter the chopped chilli and pepper mixture and the last 2 cloves of garlic over the top.
8. Heat the last 3 tablespoons of oil in a small pan until it shimmers and just starts to smoke. Carefully pour it over the chillies: it will sizzle loudly. Scatter with coriander and serve at once with rice. Eat the fish and vegetables, not the whole chillies.

Tips

• Take great care with the smoking hot oil: pour it slowly, away from you, and keep children well clear.
• Keep leftover fish and broth in the fridge for 1 day at most and reheat gently until piping hot all the way through.
• For less heat, use half the dried chillies; the dish still keeps its numbing tingle.

Swaps

• Cheaper: use frozen basa or pollock fillets, defrosted in the fridge and patted dry.
• No celery: use a sliced head of lettuce or more Chinese leaf, and choose a celery free stock cube.

Tags

• fish
• sichuan
• mala
• broth

Contains: Fish, Celery, Cereals containing gluten, Soya, Sulphur dioxide and sulphites .

Fish is the white fish fillets. Celery is the celery sticks, and stock cubes often contain celery too. Gluten is in the Shaoxing wine, in most Pixian chilli bean pastes (they contain wheat flour) and in some stock cubes. Soya is in many chilli bean pastes, so we count it. Sulphites are in the Shaoxing wine. Check the stock cube and chilli bean paste labels.

Check every packet for allergens.