Crisp pan-fried fish with a popular Szechuan twice flavoring method.

I have received this recipe request previously and I am so excited and happy to know that someone in my readers have tested this dish. It is not famous even outside Sichuan area. But it is a brilliant dish.
The method twice cooking comes from a classic Szechuan style double cooked or twice cooked pork belly “回锅肉”. In that dish, the pork belly is firstly cooked in water with some common ingredients and then re-cooked with Sichuan peppercorn, doubanjiang and other seasonings. Well cooked pork belly slices can absorb the taste from seasonings and create yummy taste with the help of the fat meat.

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

Fish has different attributes from pork. It can be cooked within a very short time and may break easily. So the first time cooking should be different too. There are two ways of treating the fish before stir-frying. One is deep-frying and the other is shallow frying. Deep-frying gives the fish pieces a very thick shell, which will further take the responsibility of taking the flavors in and keep the fish meat as tender as possible. This method is more popular in restaurants. However, shallow frying creates only a thin layer of skins, which allows the taste go inside. This one is more home cooking friendly. So I introduce shallow frying process this time.

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

Cook’s Note

Coating each piece of fish meat with starch might be quite time consuming and evening coating need higher skills. You can transfer the fish meat in a plastic bag and then slightly shake with starch. When well coated, let the fish pieces stand for 5- 10 minutes so the starch can absorb the water and become sticky, otherwise it escapes during any movement in the shallow frying process.

Ingredients

  • 1 fish fillet, snakehead or other type you prefer (around 600g)
  • 1 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine
  • 1 tbsp. soy sauce
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 tsp. sugar
  • 5-6 ginger shreds
  • cornstarch for coating

Stir-fry

  • 1 tbsp. cooking oil
  • 1 tbsp. doubanjiang
  • 1 tbsp. fermented black beans, dou-chi
  • 1 thumb ginger, sliced
  • 2 gloves garlic, sliced
  • 2 garlic sprouts, cut into small sections
  • 3-4 long peppers, shredded
  • 4-5 scallions
  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • pinch of salt

Steps

Cut the fish into pieces around 2cm thick. Add cooking wine, ginger shreds, soy sauce, salt and sugar and massage for 1 minutes. Set aside and marinade for 10 minutes.

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

Add 1/4 cup of cornstarch in a bag and place the fish fillet in. Slightly shake until every piece of fish is well coated with the cornstarch. Then stand for 5-10 minutes.

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

Prepare a shallow pan and add 1/4 cup of oil and shallow fry the fish pieces until hardened and golden brown on surface. Transfer out.

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

Leave around 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan, slow down the fire and fry doubanjiang for 1 minutes until the red turns red. Add garlic, ginger and dou-chi and fry until aromatic.

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

Place chili peppers, scallion sections and garlic sprouts in. Fry until almost soft and return the fish, add light soy sauce and salt. Mix well. Serve immediately.

twice cooked fish steps|chinasichuanfood.com

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

Twice cooked fish

Szechuan style twice cooked fish
5 from 5 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Sichuan
Keyword: fish, twice cooked
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 2
Calories: 418kcal
Author: Elaine

Ingredients

  • 1 fish fillet ,snakehead or other type you prefer (around 600 grams)
  • 1 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine
  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 tsp. sugar
  • 5-6 ginger sheds
  • cornstarch for coating

Stir-fry

  • 1 tbsp. cooking oil
  • 1 tbsp. doubanjiang
  • 1 tbsp. fermented black beans ,dou-chi
  • 1 thumb ginger ,sliced
  • 2 gloves garlic ,sliced
  • 2 garlic sprouts ,cut into small sections
  • 3-4 long red peppers ,shredded
  • 4-5 scallions
  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  • Cut the fish into pieces around 2cm thick. Add cooking wine, ginger shreds, soy sauce, salt and sugar and massage for 1 minutes. Set aside and marinade for 10 minutes.
  • Add 1/4 cup of cornstarch in a bag and place the fish fillet in. Slightly shake until every piece of fish is well coated with the cornstarch. Then stand for 5-10 minutes.
  • Prepare a shallow pan and add 1/4 cup of oil and shallow fry the fish pieces until hardened and golden brown on surface. Transfer out.
  • Leave around 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan, slow down the fire and fry doubanjiang for 1 minutes until the red turns red. Add garlic, ginger and dou-chi and fry until aromatic.
  • Place chili peppers, scallion sections and garlic sprouts in. Fry until almost soft and return the fish, add light soy sauce and salt. Mix well. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Calories: 418kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 62g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 150mg | Sodium: 989mg | Potassium: 1037mg | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 310IU | Vitamin C: 16.6mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 2.4mg

twice cooked fish|chinasichuanfood.com

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18 Comments

  1. This is great! My favorite recipes are those which are lesser known, and not often posted in English — since I can’t read Chinese, it’s wonderful to see you post a more regional recipe. Thank you for all of your hard work!

  2. 5 stars
    Great recipe. We make it often! what is snack headfish? This is great with bluefish or even mackerel. But with loster it is divine!

  3. A few questions. You don’t list the garlic sprouts in the recipe. How much do you use and how do you prepare them?
    The amount of dou-chi in the photo where you are doing the cooking looks like a lot more than 1 Tbsp.
    I don’t see any green chili peppers in the photos. Did you leave them out?
    thanks

    1. Usually 2-3 garlic sprouts are enough. It is just side ingredients. I simply cut it into small sections.
      For the peppers, I use red pepper mainly as a color supplement, so green ones must be skipped. Thanks for the correctness.

  4. Je suis de l’avis de Richard. C’est un plaisir de découvrir des recettes régionales et surtout de famille.
    Tu t’investit beaucoup, et tes photos sont toujours réussies. Bises Chris 06

    1. Thanks Chris,
      It is so pleasant to read such a nice comment. Happy cooking and I hope you can make more yummy Chinese dishes in your kitchen with me.

  5. 5 stars
    Dear freinds, Always I appreciate this lovely and magnificent help to improve my chance to enjoy my life through eat well. This is an amazing and so simple reciipe that I will enjoy how correspond: in small quantity many times a year. The gods belss you. Herman, from Leticia in the Colombian Amazon area.

    1. Wow, it actually depends on how large the fish is. But I use around 600g in this recipe. Nice catch! I will update this in the recipe.

  6. Hi, so excited to find an English recipe for this dish! Regarding the dou-chi, is this recipe calling for the dry black beans or the black bean sauce? I have the dry black beans at home and planned to make the sauce in preparation for this recipe. Also, what peppers would you recommend to keep the spice level at a minimum?

    1. Kailey,
      Firstly this one is not very spicy. Should be acceptable for the most.
      You can use either dry black beans or black bean sauce.