Cary's Chongqing spicy Alaskan Cod fillets

Linda_Baehr · June 28, 2012, 10:51pm

I hope you don’t mind, Cary, but I thought this dish deserved a thread of its own.

CWun:

From Dunlop’s “Land of Plenty” Sichuanese cookbook. My favorite Sichuanese cookbook

There are a bunch of subtle Chinese techniques in here…but they are very straightforward and simple.

Fish:
1lb of white fleshed fish such as cod, carp, sea bass, etc…

Marinade:
1" piece of fresh ginger unpeeled
1 scallion cut in 3-4 sections
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp Shaoxing wine or Taiwanese rice wine (mijiu)
4 tablespoons cornstarch (I use tapioca starch) with 3 tbs of cold water [for later…right before poaching]

Lightly score with a knife the fish pieces. If you have a full fillet, cut into the size you prefer. Usually 1" squares, 1/4-1/2" thick. Place the fish in the marinade while you do the rest of the recipe.

Base Flavorings
6 dried red chili peppers
1" piece of fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic
5 scallions
3 tbp of oil
1 tsp of Sichuanese chili bean paste (dou ban jiang…use the real the stuff that sells in that weird basket-like packaging from Chengdu or Pixian, the Taiwanese stuff isn’t the same)
1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns (ground)

Spicy oil "sauce"
3/4 cup of oil (you can lower the amount to your comfort level)
1.5 tbp of dou ban jiang (can lower amt if desired…it can be a bit salty)
1-2 oz of dried red chili peppers
2 tsp of whole Sichuan peppercorns

Base flavorings Prep:
Pre-1: Put a big pot of water on the stove and put it on high heat. Proceed to step 1. When it does boil, lower the heat to a simmer. This saves time later on.

Cut all chili peppers in half. Shake as many seeds out and discard the seeds.

Peel and thinly slice ginger and garlic. Discard the coarse outer leaves of the scallions, crush them slightly with the flat side of the cleaver, and then cut them into 2-3" sections.

Heat 3tbp of oil in a wok (or saute pan) over HIGH heat. Just when it’s starting to smoke, lower heat a little, and add doubanjiang. Stir around until oil is red (pretty quick, important to do this first). Throw in ginger, garlic, scallions, dried chilis, and the ground sichuan peppercorns. When scallions are tender but not burnt…everything fragrant and sizzling, dump the contents into your serving bowl.

Fish:

Your pot of water should be simmering already. Turn the heat up back to a boil.

Discard the ginger and scallion from the marinade. Add the cornstarch mixture to the marinade and coat the slices.

When the water is back to a boil, dump the fish in. Keep your eye on the water and lower heat if necessary to make sure the fish doesn’t fall apart. You can start the Oil sauce section below at this point.

When the fish is cooked, used a slotted spoon to dump them in the serving bowl (along with the base flavorings from above).

Oil “sauce”:

Heat oil until about to smoke.

Add the doubanjiang, until the oil is red and fragrant.

add the rest of the ingredients. Stir fry until peppercorns are crisp and fragrant. The longer the better…but make sure the spices do NOT BURN. When you feel ready, dump the contents ontop of the other stuff in the serving bowl.

Serve immediately…IMMEDIATELY…oil and items should be still sizzling.

I made this last night, and it was SO YUMMY! The only thing I didn’t have was the specific chili bean paste you used, so I did a mash-up of some aged bean curd in chili oil (I smooshed it up) and combined that with some more chilis. Not authentic, I know , but it was good anyway. Really REALLY good. One question, though, is there a reason you boil the fish rather than pan sauteing it?

Paul_Bacino · June 28, 2012, 10:58pm

I just bought a CS wok…this i must break it in with…yes its seasoned …the best i could do w/o the neighbors call the firedept…cuz of the smoke

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

CWun · June 29, 2012, 4:34pm

Man. I need to make this again; I’ve been real lazy with cooking the past month.
Paul, for this recipe, a wok isn’t really necessary as the protein actually is poached in a different pot, but it doesn’t hurt! Let us know how it goes!

CWun · June 29, 2012, 4:46pm

My guess is that it evenly cooks the fish gently and evenly so the meat can retain its delicate texture. I have made this recipe by taking some short cuts and cooking the fish in a sautee pan for several minutes before dumping in the “base flavorings” ingredients and can get pretty close to the original method. Also some firmer white meat fish may handle the shortcut method better than others.

For the chili bean paste, if you can’t find the Sichuanese stuff, the generic chinese/taiwanese stuff is fine also (ubiquitous Lee Kum Kee brand has one). If you go to a Ranch 99 or Marina there is significant self space devoted to chili bean paste. A sea of red!. Sriracha or chili sauces are different and shouldn’t be used.

Glad you liked the recipe. Credit goes to Dunlop’s Land of Plenty cookbook. One of my favorite, and most used in my core collection of cookbooks.

Linda_Baehr · July 4, 2012, 1:36am

I’m moving to Napa, and I have a cousin in Concord, and there is a 99 Ranch Market in Concord, so I will have more access! Yay!
Plus, I will be going to SF every chance I get.