Szechuan style fish stew with pickled mustard greens. This is not a famous dish but I feel something like it is my responsibility to introduce this dish to Szechuan style food lovers.

This dish belongs to the classic Shui Zhu dishes. As a sister dish to Szechuan style water boiled spicy fish, it is available in almost every Sichuan style restaurant inside China. I searched a lot concerning about this dish for finding some basic options about this dish but ended my search with nothing. Then I guess one main problem might be the pickled mustard green, which is the most important ingredient in this fish stew.

Firstly in case you are new reader to this blog, I would introduce the background. There are many pickled vegetables in Sichuan cuisine. We have pickled chili peppers named as “ pao jiao” and other pickled vegetables like pickled cucumber, pickled cabbage and   this pickled mustard green as “ suan cai”. In order to make this yummy suan cai yu at home, you need to go out searching for some packaged suan cai or find some fresh Chinese mustard green and pickle them at home according to this recipe: pickled mustard green. It is not so time consuming and healthier.

Instructions

How to prepare the fish|Wash the fish carefully and separate the bones and fish fillet. Then slice the fillet into really thin slices and cut the bones into large sections. Separate the fish pieces and the bones. 

Fry mustard green and aromatics | Add a small amount of oil in wok and fry mustard green until dried and place dried chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorn. Continue heating until aromatic. Pour extra oil and fry garlic, ginger and green onion white section until aromatic too. Transfer out.

Make the broth| Clean the wok and re-heat some oil, add the fish head and bones and fry until slightly browned. Place the fried mustard green in. Pour in 800ml hot water. Let the broth simmer for 15 minutes.  Transfer the solid content to serving plate. 

Cook the fish| add fish slices in and cook for 30 seconds until they turn white. Transfer out immediately. 

The highlights| add chopped garlic, Sichuan peppercorn and chopped green onions. Pour around 2 tablespoons of hot oil.  Serve hot! 

5 from 3 votes

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Szechuan Fish-Suan Cai Yu

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

Another yummy Szechuan style fish stew--Suan Cai Yu

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Sichuan cuisine

Keyword: fish, suan cai

Servings: 2

Calories: 307 kcal

Author: Elaine

Ingredients

• 1 fresh fish around 800g to 1000g
• 1 cup pickled mustard green
• 5 picked peppers , optional
• 10 whole Sichuan peppercorn seeds
• 10 dried pepper flakes or more as needed
• 5 green onions
• 1 inch root ginger , sliced
• 4 garlic cloves , sliced and minced
• 800 ml water or as needed

Marinating

• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp. white pepper powder
• 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
• 4 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
• 2 tbsp. starch

Instructions

Prepare the fish

1. How to prepare the fish|Wash the fish carefully and separate the bones and fish fillet. Then slice the fillet into really thin slices and cut the bones into large sections. Separate the fish pieces and the bones.

2. Add salt in fish meat and bones. Mix for a while until the meat becomes sticky.  Then wash the fish slices until they become almost transparent. Transfer out and drain. This step helps to remove any odd taste and give the meat a lovely texture. Repeat the process and clean the fish bones too.

3. Marinade the fish bones and fish fillet slices with salt, egg white, cornstarch and white pepper powder. Set aside.

Fry mustard green and aromatics

1. Add a small amount of oil in wok and fry mustard green until dried and place dried chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorn. Continue heating until aromatic. Pour extra oil and fry garlic, ginger and green onion white section until aromatic too. Transfer out.

Make the broth

1. Clean the wok and re-heat some oil, add the fish head and bones and fry until slightly browned. Place the fried mustard green in. Pour in 800ml hot water. Let the broth simmer for 15 minutes.  Transfer the solid content to serving plate. 

Cook the fish

1. Add fish slices in and cook for 30 seconds until they turn white. Transfer out immediately. 

The highlight - pouring oil

1. Top with chopped garlic, Sichuan peppercorn and chopped green onions. Pour around 2 tablespoons of hot oil.  Serve hot! 

Recipe Notes

For a better taste, you can add some pickled peppers.

Nutrition Facts

Szechuan Fish-Suan Cai Yu

Amount Per Serving

Calories 307 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Cholesterol 125mg42%

Sodium 969mg42%

Potassium 1330mg38%

Carbohydrates 13g4%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 52g104%

Vitamin A 2345IU47%

Vitamin C 1.5mg2%

Calcium 92mg9%

Iron 3.1mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.