I’ve been craving this dish because I’ve been feeling a little homesick. Hunan (my home city) is a place of spice and flavor and it is also adjacent to Sichuan, which is where this fire-y dish originated from!
Ingredients:
- 3-4 filets of Basa Swai (you can get these at any Asian market!)
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons of rice wine
- 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 stalk of green onions, chopped
- 1 inch of ginger, minced
- 2.5 tablespoons of doubanjang (spicy fermented bean paste), separated into 2 and 1/2 tablespoons
- 3 tablespoons of canola oil (you’ll use this separately as well)
- 2 Chinese eggplants, chopped into 1-2 inch cubes
- 1 tablespoons of Sichuan peppercorns, grounded
- 5-6 dried chili peppers
- About 2 cups of water
- Cilantro for garnish (optional)
Tips:
- You can use any vegetables that you like, including Napa cabbage, sprouts, mushrooms, etc. I would just limit to 2 types of veggies at the most.
- The spicy level can be adjusted by adding more or less Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili peppers and water.
- I don’t serve the dish with the Sichuan peppercorns, but you definitely can if you like the mala flavor!
How to serve:
- This dish goes best with white rice!
Directions:
- Cut the filets at an angle to make sure each piece is about 2 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick.
- Put the filets, a pinch of salt and cornstarch in a bowl and mix well. Marinate for about 30 minutes or overnight.
- In a pan, heat up 1 tablespoon of canola oil and put in some of the Sichuan peppercorns and the dried chili peppers. Stir-fry until fragrant. Take out the peppercorns and peppers and leave the oil. (You don’t need to get all of it out).
- In the same pan with the oil that is left, place your vegetables of choice into the pan and stir-fry until soft and cooked. Place the vegetables into the serving bowl.
- In the same pan, heat up another tablespoon of canola oil and put in the garlic, ginger and green onions. Stir-fry until fragrant.
- Put in the 2 tablespoons of doubanjang and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in about 1 cup of water and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Gently put your fish slices into the water, put the lid back onto the pan, and bring the mixture to a boil.
- The minute it boils, turn off the heat! (This ensures that you don’t overcook the fish)
- Pour the mixture on top of the vegetables in the serving bowl.
- Place the dried chili peppers and peppercorns that you had set aside on top of the dish.
- Optional: heat up another tablespoon of oil and pour it on top of the dried chili peppers and peppercorns for a nice sizzle!
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