Shui Zhu Yu 水煮鱼 – Water Poached Fish

Water Poached Fish, or Shui Zhu Yu 水煮鱼 sounds like a pretty benign dish, doesn’t it? What can be more bland and uninteresting than boiling fish in water? Well, this cannot be further from the truth!

What is Shui Zhu Yu?

The truth is that Shui Zhu Yu 水煮鱼 is probably one of the most flavourful and fragrant dish in the Sichuan culinary repertoire. In deed the fish is poached in water, but the water in question is packed with spicy chillis, numbing Sichuan peppercorns, fermented broadband chilli paste (Pi Xian Dou Ban) and much much more! Poaching anything with this elixir will elevate the flavours tenfold!

And it doesn’t stop at the broth, the fish is also the star. For the most authentic version of Shui Zhu Yu, you must use a whole fish. You’ve GOT TO separate the fillet from the bones and cut it into thin wide slices and you’ve GOT TO use the fish head and bones to make the soup stock. But do we always have the time? What if your knife skills aren’t great or can’t get your hands on a whole white fleshed fish like a carp or a catfish?

Well, defrosted white fish fillets like tilapia are the next best thing. It’ll reduce the prep time by half and by treating the fish with proven tenderising techniques, you’ll be surprised at just how succulent this once frozen fish can be.

A great way to eat your veggies!

But believe it or not, my favourite part of the dish are the vegetables. They are use to bulk up the dish and to provide a contrasting texture to the fall-apart tender fish pieces. Some great options include soy bean sprouts, Chinese celery, enoki mushrooms and celtuce - a leafy veg commonly found in China that closely resembles lettuce.