Once in a while you come across a dish that is so spicy and tingly, just really shakes your soul to the core! This recipe is not for the faint hearted. But if you love spicy, tingly, shake your soul kinda food - you'll marry this dish! (I did)
Sichuan style cooking has a series of boiled dishes - each one extremely delish and very popular. This a SUPER POPULAR dish in China. And I'm going to show you our adapted version of this dish. It is a fairly easy recipe but with a few different elements to it. The end result is mind blowing! I like to use our Desi chilli oil and Beijing Masala for this recipe. The blend of spices in our Desi flavour combined with our 5 spice super star Beijing Masala really brings this dish home. Like you won't believe the flavour profile.
The fish we recommend using is any white fish fillet. The fish needs to be thinly sliced so it remains tender yet sturdy and absorbs max flavour.
So let's get into it!
INGREDIENTS:
- 400g Fish fillet - I used regular basa fillet but you can use any white fish fillet
- 150g of your preferred greens - I used celery stalk and spinach here
- Spring onion chopped for garnish
Marination for the fish fillet
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
- 1 tsp Beijing Masala
- 2 tsp cornstarch
Soup Base
- 1 tbsp Desi chilli oil
- 4-6 dry red chillies
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1-2 tsp Beijing Masala
- 2 tbsp doubanjiang/chilli bean paste
- 1 inch ginger sliced
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups stock - I've used mutton but you can use veggie/chicken etc
Topping/Tadka
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn
- 1 tbsp Desi chilli oil
- Pinch of sesame seeds
- 4-5 dry red chillies
DIRECTIONS:
- Place the fish slices and marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the dish.
- Heat a small amount of water over high heat until boiling. Add your greens and cook for half a minute. Drain and place in a large serving bowl.
- To make the spicy broth, heat the Desi chilli oil in a wok or large saucepan over medium heat. Add the dried chillies, garlic, ginger and Beijing Masala. Stir-fry for half a minute. Now add the doubanjiang/chilli bean paste. Pour in the stock and add the soy sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add salt if required.
- Add the fish into the simmering broth and cook for 5 minutes or until just cooked. Transfer the fish and broth to the serving bowl with the vegetables. Sprinkle over the spring onions and sesame seeds.
- Wipe out the pan you cooked the broth in and set it back over a high heat to make the chilli oil topping. Add the chilli oil into the hot pan. Then add the dry chillies and sichuan peppercorn and stir-fry for a few seconds. Finish with a pinch of sesame seeds. Pour the sizzling hot tadka over the fish broth. Serve immediately!!
You can serve it with a side of rice or even use the broth as a spicy noodle soup/ramen bowl!
