Chinese cuisine

Medium

Chef John’s Catfish 2 Ways

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In restaurants, Sichuan boiled fish is usually made with a whole fish. Chef John used catfish, as it’s tender and has relatively few bones, to create this classic dish along with another recipe to braise the fish head and bones.

Recipe

PRE TIME: 15 min

COOKING TIME: 15 min

TOTAL TIME: 30 min

4 SERVING

Ingredients:

1.5 lb. Catfish Fillets
0.5 cup Bean Sprouts
0.5 cup Chinese Celery
1 cup Dried Red Chili
0.5 cup Sichuan Peppercorn
1 tbsp. Salt
1 cup Cooking Oil
Marinade
0.25 tsp. [Marinade] Salt, To Taste
2 large [Marinade] Egg White
0.25 cup [Marinade] Corn Starch
2 lb. Catfish Head and Bones
1 tbsp. [Marinade] Soy Sauce
1 cup Garlic
0.5 cup Green Onion, diced
Sauce
0.25 tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 tbsp. Oyster Sauce
1 tsp. Rock Sugar
1 tsp. Sweet Black Rice Vinegar
0.5 cup Water
0.25 tsp. White Pepper
1.5 tbsp. Water + Corn Starch
1 tbsp. Chef made peppercorn oil

Directions:

Step 1

[Making the boiled fish] Debone the fish to get the fillets. Cut the fish fillet 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.

Step 2

[Making the boiled fish] Marinate the fish: add salt, egg white, and corn starch. Mix everything well.

Step 3

[Making the boiled fish] Bring a pot of water to a broil, add salt and your fish, one piece at a time, into the boiling water. Take them out after cooking for 5 seconds. The fish is not cook through. The goal is to set the shape.

Step 4

[Making the boiled fish] In a large serving pot, add the bean sprouts, chinese clery, fish fillets, dried red chili, and sichuan peppercorn.

Step 5

[Making the boiled fish] In a small pot, slowly heat up 1 cup of oil to reach 200°C / 400°F. 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!

Step 6

[Making the boiled fish] Pour the oil onto the serving pot over the spices and fish.

Step 7

[Making the boiled fish] Enjoy.

Step 8

[Making the braised fish] Cut off the fish head and debone the fish. We use the fillets on the boiled fish and the rest for braised fish. Place the fish head and bones in a large bowl.

Step 9

[Making the braised fish] Add the soy sauce to the fish and mix well by hand.

Step 10

[Making the braised fish] In a large wok, bring 2 cups of oil to 150°C-180°C/ 300°F-350°F. Deep fry the fish until golden brown. Drain and set aside.

Step 11

[Making the braised fish] In the same wok, fry the garlic until golden. Drain and set aside.

Step 12

[Making the braised fish] Return the fried fish and garlic to the wok. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, rock sugar, sweet black rice vinegar, water, and simmer for 10 minutes. Then, add white pepper, water and corn starch slurry, chef made peppercorn oil, and green onion.

Step 13

[Making the braised fish] Serve hot.

Final Notes

This boiled fish recipe is to get the fish fully cooked by pouring hot oil. So, the amount of oil used is at least ½ cup. The high temperature of the hot oil can keep the fish very moist and tender with the added fragrance of sichuan peppercorn and dried red chili.