Tiao shui yu, or diving fish, gets its name from the way the fish slips into the poaching water and mostly stays there. Scoring goes straight to the bone so the cure reaches the thick parts, and the sauce is built separately with rapeseed oil and lard for that Sichuan richness. Two spoons of starch slurry make it thick enough to coat the fish.
Sichuan · Main
Whole Fish Poached Gently, Then Covered in Chilli Sauce
A scored bighead carp is rubbed with salt and beer, poached in barely simmering water, then drowned in a pickled chilli sauce thick enough to cling. The poaching liquid keeps the flesh tender.
- Prep20 min
- Cook25 min
- Serves4
- LevelMedium
Ingredients
| 1000 g | bighead carp, 1 whole , scored to the bone |
| a little | green and red bird's-eye chillies |
| a little | red pickled chillies , chopped |
| a little | ginger and garlic, minced |
| a little | scallion and ginger slices, for the poaching pot |
| as needed | salt, sugar, ground pepper and kaempferia powder |
| as needed | beer, split between cure and sauce |
| 2 spoons | sweet potato starch, for coating the fish |
| as needed | Sichuan peppercorns |
| as needed | rapeseed oil and lard |
| 2 spoons | cornstarch, mixed with water into a thick slurry |
| a little | celery and vinegar, for the finish |
Method
- Score the fish in a crosshatch: first straight cuts, then diagonal ones down to the bone, so the cure can get deep. Rub every crevice with salt, MSG and beer.
- Coat the fish with the sweet potato starch and set aside.
- Bring a wide pot of water to a bare simmer with scallion, ginger slices, bird's-eye chillies, Sichuan peppercorns, salt, pepper and a spoonful of lard.
- Lower the fish in and poach gently for about 10 minutes. Small bubbles, no rolling boil.
- For the sauce, heat rapeseed oil with lard and fry the pickled chillies, bird's-eye chillies and young ginger until fragrant and red.
- Pour in beer and half a bowl of water, then season with salt, MSG, sugar and kaempferia powder.
- Add celery and green chillies, splash in a little vinegar, and let the sauce boil until it tastes right.
- Stir in two spoonfuls of thick starch slurry, simmer until glossy, then pour the whole thing over the drained fish.
Notes
- The scoring has to reach the bone; shallow cuts leave the centre of the flesh unseasoned.
- Keep the poach at a shiver, not a boil, or the flesh tightens and turns chalky.
Ratios and technique checked against 宝儿2003 on Douguo (简单的跳水鱼). The method here is written by Stellaok; the photograph is the source kitchen's, credited on the image above and linked back to the page it came from. No recipe text is reproduced.