Sichuan poached fish fillets swimming in a fiery broth of chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns, and dried chilies.
Created in the mid-1980s in Cuiyun, Yubei District of Chongqing, by a self-taught young cook, Tian Qishu, whose roadside place on National Highway 319 served the truck drivers passing through; he had already developed water-boiled pork slices in the same style before applying the technique to river fish. The name 水煮 is a misnomer inherited from an older Sichuan poaching technique; the 水煮 family of dishes (descended from Zigong's water-boiled beef) uses a chili-oil broth rather than plain water, and Sichuanese wryly still call that spicy red broth "water". It became a national hit in the 1990s as Sichuan cuisine spread beyond the province.
Shui zhu yu — Chongqing 1980s invention from Yubei district, despite the misleading name. The fish poaches in stock under a bed of bean sprouts; the dried-chili-and-Sichuan-peppercorn oil is poured smoking-hot at the end.
A wide bowl: white fish fillets buried under a forest of dried red chilies and Sichuan peppercorns floating on a pool of red oil. Beneath, bean sprouts or napa cabbage. The fish is silky — not fried, poached in flavored oil-broth at low heat — and the chili layer on top is mostly aromatic, not for eating. The mouth numbs, then burns; the fish itself is tender and clean. Despite the name, it's not really boiled.
The fish stays tender because it's velveted first — egg white, cornstarch, salt — then poached at around 80°C in the chili broth, never a rolling boil. Boiling shreds the fillet. The chili-and-peppercorn layer on top is poured with smoking oil at the end ("激油") to bloom the aromatics — that final sizzle is the sound the dish is famous for. Skipping that step gives a flat, muddy red-soup version.
Variations
Original uses grass carp; modern Chengdu restaurants use sole or perch; shui zhu niu rou (beef) is the meat sibling; mao xue wang adds duck blood and offal in the same red oil.
On the Palate
Where Water-Boiled Fish sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
How it's made
4 steps · 13 min
- 12 min
Begin by toasting the Sichuan pepper in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. The aroma should be citrusy and numbing, a hallmark of Sichuan cuisine.
Watch outToast the peppercorns just until they smell citrusy and numbing and give off a thin wisp of smoke — a shade too far and they turn bitter.
- 23 min
In a pot, bring water to a boil and add ginger slices and garlic cloves. Let them infuse for 3 minutes, releasing their spicy and pungent aroma into the water.
- 35 min
Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the fish fillets. Cook gently for 5 minutes until the fish turns opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
Watch outThe fish is ready the instant the slices turn white and opaque and just firm up; pull the heat then, they keep cooking in the hot broth.
- 43 min
In a separate pan, heat oil until shimmering. Add chili pepper and pour the hot oil over the cooked fish, infusing it with a spicy, aromatic kick.
Watch outThe oil is hot enough when it shimmers hard and a thread of smoke rises; pour it and listen for a loud, even sizzle across the whole surface.
