East Asia

Shuizhu Yu: Sichuan Boiled Fish Finished with Sizzling Oil

Name: Shuizhu Yu: Sichuan Boiled Fish Finished with Sizzling Oil
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Sichuan
Ingredients: 600 g White fish fillets (skinless, boneless); 4 g Salt; 1 g White pepper; 1 tbsp (15 ml) Shaoxing wine; From 1 egg (about 30 g) Egg white; 25 g Potato starch; 2 tsp (10 ml) Oil for the marinade; 250 g Soybean sprouts; 50 g Pixian doubanjiang; 650 ml Chicken stock or water; 4 cloves (about 25 g) Garlic; 20 g Ginger; 1 (about 100 g) Japanese long onion (negi); 2 tsp (10 ml) Soy sauce; 1 tsp (4 g) Sugar; 2 tsp (10 ml) Black vinegar (Chinkiang); 2 tbsp (30 ml) Oil; 12–18 (about 12 g) Dried chiles; 5–7 g Sichuan peppercorns (whole); 80 ml Finishing oil; 20 g Cilantro or scallion greens

Sichuan shuizhu yu (water-boiled fish) reworked as an easy fillet recipe for home kitchens: how to slice the fish, the doubanjiang broth, the hot-oil finish over Sichuan peppercorns and chiles, Chengdu vs. Chongqing styles, substitutes, fixes, storage, serving with rice, handling hot oil and checking the fish's internal temperature.

Published: October 24, 2026Total: 55 minLevel: Intermediate

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 5

Slice the fish on the diagonal and coat with egg white and starch

20 min (including resting in the fridge)

White fish sliced at 45 degrees and coated with egg white and potato starch — Slice the white fish 8–10 mm thick on the diagonal and coat with egg white and potato starch

Holding the knife at a 45-degree angle to the grain, slice 600 g white fish into pieces 8–10 mm thick and 5–6 cm long. Toss with 4 g salt, the white pepper and 15 ml Shaoxing wine, add 30 g egg white and mix until the surface turns slick. Add 25 g potato starch in 2 additions, and once no dry powder remains, drizzle 10 ml oil over the surface. Rest in the fridge for 15 minutes; the fish is ready when its surface has a thin sheen.

If you cut it thick, the coating comes off before the center cooks; too thin and it falls apart in the pot. If the fillets are very wet, press them with paper towels before salting. Don't leave the fish at room temperature for long, and return the marinated bowl to the fridge.

STEP 22 / 5

Line the bowl with vegetables and make the doubanjiang broth

10 min

Frying doubanjiang and aromatics in a wok, then pouring stock into the red-oiled broth — Fry the doubanjiang in oil to make a broth with red oil floating on top

Medium to medium-high heat. Blanch 250 g soybean sprouts in boiling water for 40 seconds, drain and spread them over the bottom of the deep heatproof bowl. Thinly slice the white part of the long onion, 10 g ginger and 2 cloves garlic. Heat 30 ml oil in the wok over medium heat and stir-fry the onion, ginger and garlic for 40 seconds. When fragrant, add 50 g Pixian doubanjiang and fry for 1 minute 30 seconds, scraping the bottom of the wok with a wooden spatula. When the oil turns red and the raw smell of the doubanjiang is gone, pour in 650 ml chicken stock or water.

Add 10 ml soy sauce and 4 g sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, lower to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes to draw the ginger and doubanjiang aroma into the liquid. It's enough when red oil floats on the surface and a thin color remains on the back of a spoon. Burnt doubanjiang leaves a bitterness you can't undo, so add the stock before black bits stick to the bottom of the wok.

STEP 33 / 5

Add the fish piece by piece and cook at a gentle simmer

4–6 min

Sliding white fish one piece at a time into red broth and cooking it at a gentle simmer — Add the white fish without overlapping and cook it while the broth barely ripples

Medium-low heat, aiming for a broth temperature of 85–90°C (185–194°F). Bring the broth back to a gentle bubble and slide the fish in one piece at a time without overlapping. Dropping it all in at once makes the coating stick together, so add 10–15 pieces at a time, with pauses in between. After all the fish is in, lower the heat, don't stir the pot broadly, and gently spoon broth over the surface with the slotted ladle.

For pieces 8–10 mm thick, 2 minutes 30 seconds to 3 minutes is the guide. Check that the flesh has turned from translucent to white, feels springy when pressed with chopsticks, and is heated through to the center. As a food-safety standard, the thickest part of the fish should reach 63°C (145°F). Even without a thermometer, don't plate fish whose center is still translucent. If you keep the broth at a hard boil, the starch film breaks and the fish splits.

STEP 44 / 5

Transfer the fish and broth to the heatproof bowl and layer the spices

3 min

The cooked fish and red broth over soybean sprouts, with dried chiles and Sichuan peppercorns spread on top before finishing — Layer soybean sprouts, fish, broth, Sichuan peppercorns and chiles in the heatproof bowl

Work quickly after turning off the heat. Once the fish is cooked, use the slotted ladle to move it onto the soybean sprouts first. Taste the remaining broth; if it needs salt, add 1 g at a time, and if you want acidity, add 10 ml black vinegar. Pour the broth over the fish and scatter 10 g of the green part of the long onion, 10 g of ginger cut into thin strips, the remaining 2 cloves garlic, 12–18 dried chiles and 5–7 g Sichuan peppercorns over the surface.

Don't heap the chiles and peppercorns in the center; spread them thinly over all the fish. If the oil hits only one spot, that spot burns and the other spices don't release their aroma. Always use a heatproof bowl warmed with boiling water, and never pour hot oil into thin glass or a cold ceramic bowl.

STEP 55 / 5

Pour over 170–180°C oil and eat right away

3 min

Pouring hot oil over Sichuan peppercorns and dried chiles, releasing aroma and small bubbles — The last step of shuizhu yu: pour 170–180°C oil over the Sichuan peppercorns and chiles to open up their aroma

Heat the finishing oil over medium heat. Put 80 ml finishing oil in a small pan and heat over medium to 170–180°C (338–356°F). Without a thermometer, dip a dry wooden chopstick into the oil: fine bubbles should stream steadily around the tip, with no smoke. If the oil is smoking, turn off the heat, wait 30 seconds and check again.

Pour the oil in a thin stream from the center of the bowl outward. Success is when the peppercorns and chiles immediately crackle softly and the edges of the garlic turn lightly golden. Finish with 20 g chopped cilantro or scallion on top. If you smell burning, don't force the rest of the oil in; make a new batch at a lower temperature. The oil will spatter, so keep your face away from the bowl, wear long sleeves, keep a dry cloth ready, and turn off the stove when you've finished pouring.

Serve the finished shuizhu yu with white rice before the oil cools. Using one spoon for the broth and a slotted ladle that won't break the fish keeps the coating from coming off in the bowl.

0 / 0

Ingredients

1 / 3

Fish and marinade

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & how to choose
White fish fillets (skinless, boneless)	600 g	Basa, sea bass, red sea bream. Pat cod dry before using
Salt	4 g	About 0.7% of the fish's weight. Keep it modest because of the doubanjiang's salt
White pepper	1 g	Ground. May be omitted
Shaoxing wine	1 tbsp (15 ml)	A mild cooking wine also works
Egg white	From 1 egg (about 30 g)	Starch alone tends to make the coating thick
Potato starch	25 g	Cornstarch also works
Oil for the marinade	2 tsp (10 ml)	A neutral oil such as rice bran oil

2 / 3

Broth and vegetables

Ingredient	Amount	Role & substitutes
Soybean sprouts	250 g	Or 250 g napa cabbage, 180 g celery, 200 g enoki
Pixian doubanjiang	50 g	Heat and the savory depth of fermented beans. With regular doubanjiang, start at 45 g
Chicken stock or water	650 ml	Prefer unsalted stock. If using granules, reduce the salt
Garlic	4 cloves (about 25 g)	Half for the broth, half for finishing
Ginger	20 g	Peel thinly; cut half into thin strips
Japanese long onion (negi)	1 (about 100 g)	White part for the broth, green part for finishing. A thick leek or several scallions can stand in
Soy sauce	2 tsp (10 ml)	Color and salt. Too much hides the doubanjiang aroma
Sugar	1 tsp (4 g)	Softens the edge of the heat. Not meant to make it sweet
Black vinegar (Chinkiang)	2 tsp (10 ml)	For finishing. If using rice vinegar, start at 1 tsp
Oil	2 tbsp (30 ml)	For frying the doubanjiang. Rice bran oil, canola oil, etc.

3 / 3

Finishing

Ingredient	Amount	How to use
Dried chiles	12–18 (about 12 g)	To lower the heat, remove half the seeds and use fewer
Sichuan peppercorns (whole)	5–7 g	Keep them whole for aroma; use 3 g for less numbness
Finishing oil	80 ml	Aim for 170–180°C; stop before it smokes
Cilantro or scallion greens	20 g	If you don't like cilantro, use scallions only

0 / 0

Shuizhu yu: Sichuan peppercorns crackling over a red broth

Finished shuizhu yu: white fish and soybean sprouts in a red broth topped with Sichuan peppercorns and dried chiles — Shuizhu yu: white fish layered over red broth and vegetables, with Sichuan peppercorns and chiles added last

Over the bowl you've just filled with fish from the pot, scatter dried chiles and Sichuan peppercorns. Pour a thin stream of oil heated in a separate small pan, and the tips of the chiles quiver as the peppercorns' aroma rushes up. The fish cooked only briefly, yet the surface of the dish is wrapped in a powerful aroma, and the white flesh carries a thin coat of red broth.

This is the dish called shuizhu yu (水煮鱼, "water-boiled fish") in Chinese. The name suggests a mild dish of fish boiled in water, but in Sichuan cooking, "shuizhu" means cooking ingredients in a spicy broth and finishing them by pouring hot oil over spices. It isn't fish fried in oil; the broth keeps the fish tender and the oil opens up the aroma.

This recipe uses 600 g of white fish fillets, so there's no whole fish to fillet. The fish is sliced thinly on the diagonal, coated with egg white and potato starch to protect its surface, then slipped piece by piece into a pot of simmered doubanjiang broth. The two things to protect in a home kitchen are not dropping the fish into the boiling pot in a lump, and stopping the oil before the Sichuan peppercorns burn.

In Sichuan shuizhu yu, the final oil defines the dish more than the simmering

Shuizhu yu is known as a fish dish served in big bowls at Sichuan restaurants. English-language cooking sources describe both the restaurant style with a whole fish and the home style that substitutes fillets. The fish depends on the restaurant: catfish, carp or freshwater fish similar to sea bass. Using boneless fillets is a shortcut for home cooks, but you can keep the essentials: slicing the fish on the diagonal to increase its surface area and cooking it in a short time.

The "shuizhu" in the name doesn't mean the broth is weak. Doubanjiang, ginger, garlic, scallion and chiles are fried in oil, stock is poured in, and the fish is submerged in the red liquid. The egg white and starch coating hold a little of the broth, so even if the heat of the broth hits first, the fish doesn't lose its moisture. The turning point for home cooks is to make the broth a spicy soup that cradles the fish, not a thick, oily sauce.

Sichuan heat is described as mala (麻辣), layering the burn of chiles with the tingling numbness of Sichuan peppercorns. Dried chiles give a heat the tongue recognizes easily, while Sichuan peppercorns leave a fine electric sensation on the tip of the tongue and a citrus-like aroma. Increasing just one of them tends to make the dish either merely hot or merely fragrant, so even when you cut back on chiles, keeping a little Sichuan peppercorn preserves the depth that makes it shuizhu yu.

In restaurants there, soybean sprouts, celery, napa cabbage, mushrooms and so on are placed under the fish and broth, and diners pick up vegetables along with the fish. Serving white rice alongside makes it easier to absorb the salt and oil of the red broth. As a dish set in the middle of the table to share, it suits the pace of the meal better to keep vegetables and broth rather than making the fish the only star. Everyone takes fish from the hot bowl, avoiding chiles or scooping up more broth as they like.

We don't adopt here any source that pins the dish's origin to a single restaurant or date. The cooking term shuizhu is used not only for fish but also for beef and pork, and it has spread, with changing ingredients, through restaurants and homes around Sichuan and Chongqing. When making shuizhu yu as a fish dish, reproducing the structure of the dish as it is today, fresh fish, short cooking and hot oil over spices, gives information you can check in your own kitchen, rather than asserting a history.

Chengdu vs. Chongqing heat: Sichuan food culture and regional differences

A Sichuan-style table with a big platter of red shuizhu yu, white rice and small dishes of vegetables — A Sichuan table where shuizhu yu is served on a big platter with white rice and vegetables to share

Sichuan cuisine is now discussed as including not only Sichuan Province but also the cooking of Chongqing. Food guides describe a division into the Shanghebang style centered on Chengdu and Leshan, the Xiaohebang style linked to Zigong and Yibin in southern Sichuan, and the Xiahebang style that includes the cooking of Chongqing and Wanzhou. Where the lines are drawn varies by source, but it is a useful hint that even under the same dish name, Chengdu and Chongqing don't fully agree on the aroma of the oil, the strength of the chiles or even how the vegetables are arranged.

To lean toward Chengdu, put the savory depth of doubanjiang at the center of the broth and use Sichuan peppercorns and dried chiles as layers of aroma. To lean toward the big-platter dishes of Chongqing and Wanzhou, use a bit more finishing oil and push the dried chiles forward. On a home stove, though, more oil means more spattering, so instead of copying restaurant quantities this recipe uses 80 ml of finishing oil to bring out the aroma. It prioritizes an amount that releases aroma with each spoonful of fish over the look of a red sea.

For fish, in order of availability, basa, sea bass, red sea bream and cod fillets are candidates. Basa is easy to cut to an even thickness and its coating doesn't come off easily, but its flavor is mild, so make the broth a little stronger. Sea bass and sea bream have firm flesh that doesn't fall apart even when sliced thin. Cod releases water and splits easily, so salt it, let it sit 10 minutes and pat the surface dry before using. Salmon has strong fat and aroma that pull away from the idea of a Sichuan white fish, so don't choose it for your first try.

Doubanjiang can be stood in for with Korean gochujang or a mix of miso and chile, but the saltiness and savory depth of doubanjiang, made from fermented broad beans, won't be the same. Replacing Sichuan peppercorns with black pepper or Japanese sansho changes the quality of the numbness. To lower the heat, reduce the chiles and don't remove the Sichuan peppercorns entirely; that keeps the backbone of the dish. Instead of swapping Shaoxing wine for sake, using a plain cooking wine without added sweetness keeps the broth more coherent.

Ingredients (serves 4)

White fish, soybean sprouts, Pixian doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorns, dried chiles, ginger and garlic laid out for shuizhu yu — The fish, vegetables, doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorns and chiles for shuizhu yu, set out separately before cooking

Before cutting the fish, set out all the seasonings and the serving bowl. If you're hunting for the Sichuan peppercorns after turning on the heat, the broth boils too hard and the fish's coating comes off. Warm the deep heatproof bowl with boiling water for 1 minute and wipe it dry so the dish doesn't cool down after plating.

Decide the salt for shuizhu yu at the end

The salt in doubanjiang, chicken stock and soy sauce varies by product. The only salt in the ingredient list is the 4 g for the marinade; add salt to the broth only after tasting. Before the fish goes in, the broth should be slightly stronger than a soup you'd drink.

Doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorns are the backbone; choose a pan by how it handles heat

Pixian doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorns and an iron wok on a kitchen counter — Pixian doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorns, which decide the aroma of shuizhu yu, and a deep wok

Even if you find doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorns at the supermarket, the product name alone won't tell you the heat, whether the peppercorns are whole, or how strong the fermented aroma is. If you're trying shuizhu yu once, make it with the doubanjiang you can get nearby; only if you want to taste the difference the second time, look for Pixian doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorns, usually at Chinese or Asian grocers. Check that the doubanjiang is described as a fermented broad-bean paste and that the Sichuan peppercorns are whole, not ground.

Pixian doubanjiang is worth buying if what you want is not heat but the red oil and fermented-bean aroma it releases when fried. If you skip it, use 45 g of the doubanjiang you have and add a few more drops of black vinegar at the end. Gochujang alone makes it too sweet, so even with 2 tsp miso and some ground chile added, it's better not to treat it as the same thing.

Whole Sichuan peppercorns release their aroma when they hit the oil and create a varying tingle in the mouth that ground pepper doesn't. If you dislike strong numbness, rather than cutting them from the start, coarsely crush only half the peppercorns and keep the rest for finishing; that keeps the aroma while reducing how much you bite into. When buying, make sure the label says Sichuan peppercorns, whole, not leaves or peppercorn salt.

You can make shuizhu yu in an ordinary skillet. Still, when heating the finishing oil separately while keeping the broth hot, depth and an easy handle help. If you buy a hammered iron wok, look for one about 33 cm across that sits stably on your home stove, and only if you can keep up with the seasoning and oiling it needs. If you have no storage space or will make this only once, use a deep saucepan and a small pan for the oil instead.

Method

Tip

Handle the white fish cold, straight from the fridge, and cut all the ingredients before turning on the heat. The time from adding the fish to the pot to plating is short, so keep a deep heatproof bowl, a slotted ladle and a small pan for the finishing oil near the stove.

How to fix mistakes

The broth, fish fillets, Sichuan peppercorns and chiles of shuizhu yu in separate small dishes on the counter — Checking the fish, broth and spices separately to adjust the finished shuizhu yu

The fish fell apart

You may have stirred with chopsticks after adding the fish, or the boil was too strong. Don't try to scoop up the broken fish; move the remaining pieces with the slotted ladle. Next time, add the fish one piece at a time and turn the heat down so the surface of the broth doesn't churn. Using more starch for a thick coating makes it absorb too much broth instead.

The broth is too spicy

Adding water all at once dilutes only the salt and erases the layers of aroma. After moving the fish to the bowl, add unsalted stock to the broth 50 ml at a time and warm over low heat for 2 minutes. If you add sweetness, stop at 2 g of sugar, and add a few drops of black vinegar at the end. Using less finishing oil alone won't reduce the heat that comes from the doubanjiang.

The broth is weak

Before the fish goes in, reduce it uncovered over medium heat for 3–5 minutes until red oil returns to the surface. Reducing after the fish is in makes the flesh tough, so take the fish out first, then adjust the broth. Reduce the liquid before adding salt.

The Sichuan peppercorns taste bitter or have no aroma

Frying the peppercorns for a long time with the doubanjiang burns them, and their aroma is gone before the oil is poured. Remove the burnt ones and scatter a few fresh peppercorns for finishing. If the aroma is weak, crush the peppercorns lightly with your fingers before pouring the oil; this opens the aroma without grinding them.

The center of the fish is still translucent

Bring the broth back to a gentle simmer, return the fish and cook it 30 seconds more at a time. Check that the center turns white and the flesh flakes apart with chopsticks. Pouring hot oil over the fish after plating doesn't make undercooked fish safe. If you can't cook it safely, don't eat it; make it again.

Five ways to adapt it in your kitchen

Shuizhu yu served with different combinations of white fish, mushrooms, napa cabbage and soybean sprouts to compare heat and texture — Variations that change the fish, vegetables, heat and amount of Sichuan peppercorn while keeping the backbone of shuizhu yu

1. Split the heat at the table

Don't put half the dried chiles in the broth; place them on only one side of the finished dish. If children or people sensitive to heat are eating, the doubanjiang's savoriness stays in the broth, and there's an area where they can scoop fish without picking up chiles. Leaving out the chiles completely pushes the Sichuan peppercorns too far forward, so keep 2–3 for color.

2. Switch from basa to sea bass

Basa is easy to use as frozen fillets of even thickness and suits your first practice run. Sea bass has springy flesh and a flavor that doesn't get lost in the broth. If the sea bass fillet is thick, slice from the thicker side on the diagonal rather than from the skin side, keeping the pieces under 1 cm. Thaw frozen fish slowly in the fridge and wipe off the released water before marinating.

3. Use napa cabbage and mushrooms for the vegetables

If you don't like the crunch of soybean sprouts, use 250 g napa cabbage and 200 g enoki. Cut the cabbage stems into thin strips and blanch 1 minute, add the leaves and blanch 30 seconds more; warm the mushrooms in the broth for 3 minutes. The vegetables release water, so don't add more stock at the start; just taste for salt at the end.

4. Lean toward the aroma of Sichuan peppercorns

Of the 5–7 g of whole peppercorns, put only 1 g in the broth and keep the rest for finishing. This holds back the numbness while keeping the citrus-like aroma opened up by the oil. If, on the other hand, you want more numbness, don't add lots of ground pepper; crush whole peppercorns lightly and add them little by little at the end. Sichuan peppercorns lose aroma over time, so seal the bag after opening and take out only what you need.

5. Skip the fish and make shuizhu vegetables

Warm mushrooms, napa cabbage and tofu in the broth and finish by pouring oil over the chiles and peppercorns, and you can enjoy the shuizhu cooking structure. Without the fish's protein and coating, though, this is not a substitute for shuizhu yu but a vegetable dish that uses the same Sichuan flavor backbone. If someone with a fish allergy is eating from the same pot, set their portion aside before the fish goes in and use separate utensils.

Storage and serving

A big platter of shuizhu yu on the dinner table with white rice, a serving ladle, cilantro and small plates — Shuizhu yu at a home dinner with white rice and a ladle for sharing

Shuizhu yu suits its character better when the deep bowl sits in the middle of the table and everyone takes vegetables and broth along with the fish, rather than plating neat individual portions of fish. Sichuan cuisine guides describe the Chengdu-Leshan style as relatively mild while layering spices, and the Xiahebang style of Chongqing and Wanzhou in terms of big bowls and strong flavors. Of course homes and restaurants differ, but even within "Sichuan cuisine," this is a dish whose flavor is shaped by the bowl you put on the table and how quickly people share it.

White rice isn't only there to put out the heat; it also catches each mouthful of oil-laden broth. Pouring too much broth over the rice makes it salty, so take a little fish, soybean sprouts and broth at a time and combine them in your mouth. If you want to compare the shuizhu structure made with beef, see shuizhu niurou (water-boiled beef). Fish cooks quickly, while beef, even sliced thin, handles the coating and broth differently, so the way you watch the pot differs even within shuizhu.

As a rule, divide up leftovers on the same day you pour the finishing oil. Move the fish and broth into shallow storage containers and refrigerate once they've cooled slightly. Keep the time at room temperature within 2 hours, and finish eating it by the next day. To reheat, don't boil it in the pot; warm it to the center over low heat so the fish doesn't break. The aroma of the peppercorns and chiles fades, so scatter a few fresh peppercorns over the next day's portion, and if you add oil, heat it separately and pour on just a little. Freezing changes the fish's coating and the vegetables' moisture, so it's easier not to plan on freezing the first time.

Handling fish and hot oil

Wash the cutting board, knife and bowl used for the fish separately from your serving utensils. Cook the fish thoroughly to the center, and pour hot oil only into a heatproof bowl that can withstand sudden temperature changes. Any water in the oil makes it spatter violently, so make sure the pan, the fish and the spices are dry on the surface before turning on the heat.

Q1. Is it still shuizhu yu if I don't use a whole fish?

Using fillets at home is fine. A restaurant's whole fish adds flavor from the bones and head, but it means more work filleting and removing bones. With fillets, it's easier to even out the thickness, marinate, and check that the center is cooked. For reproducibility, keeping to freshness, diagonal slicing, short cooking and the order of the finishing oil matters more than the type of fish.

Q2. Can people who dislike Sichuan peppercorns eat it?

Start by reducing them to 3 g, leaving them out of the broth and gathering them in one corner of the finished dish. A spicy fish dish without Sichuan peppercorns puts only the heat of the chiles forward, so even if someone dislikes the aroma, keeping a small amount on the side lets them avoid it. Ground pepper mixed into the whole broth is hard to remove, so use whole peppercorns the first time.

Q3. The potato starch coating comes off. What should I do?

Wipe the moisture off the fish's surface, coat it with the egg white first, then add the potato starch. Mixing for a long time after adding the starch makes the coating absorb water and turn heavy before it goes into the pot. Don't let the broth boil hard, and after the fish goes in, just spoon broth over it with the slotted ladle. A thin coating is enough; it doesn't need to be a thick film.

Q4. Can I use less finishing oil?

You can reduce it from 80 ml to 50 ml, but tilt the bowl slightly and pour in a thin stream so it reaches the peppercorns and chiles evenly. With too little oil, only some of the spices heat up, leaving a mix of burnt and raw pieces. Rather than making the broth stronger to make up for less oil, it's safer to spread the spices out.

Q5. How can I enjoy the fish the next day?

Rewarm the broth and fish over low heat and add fresh Sichuan peppercorns and scallion greens. If using a microwave, spoon broth over the fish, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and heat in short bursts. Overheating the finishing oil burns the spices, so if you need it, warm just a little in a small pan and pour it at the table.

Sources

Sichuan peppercorns, dried chiles, doubanjiang and white fish fillets with a wok, as a still life for the references — A still life of shuizhu yu ingredients and cookware used to check the references

The structure of the dish, choice of fish, handling of the spices, regional differences and food safety were cross-checked against the following English-language sources and restructured for home cooks. The recipe's quantities and heat levels are the common ground among several sources, plus a safe way to check doneness when using fillets.

Sichuan Boiled Fish (Shui Zhu Yu, 水煮鱼) | The Woks of Life (whole fish vs. fillets, diagonal slicing, egg white and starch marinade, lining the bowl with vegetables, finishing oil; accessed and checked August 19, 2026)
Water boiled fish (Shui zhu yu) recipe | SBS Food (white fish for home cooks, the order of frying doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorns and chiles, simmering the fish over low heat, serving immediately; accessed and checked August 19, 2026)
Shui Zhu Yu, 水煮鱼 | Wisconsin Department of Health Services (the basic structure of fish fillets, Sichuan doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorns, vegetables, broth and pouring hot oil; accessed and checked August 19, 2026)
Sichuan Cuisine – Most Popular Cuisine in China | TravelChinaGuide (Sichuan cuisine eaten around Sichuan and Chongqing, characteristics of its spices, and the regional division into Chengdu-Leshan, southern Sichuan and Chongqing-Wanzhou; accessed and checked August 19, 2026)
Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely | U.S. Food and Drug Administration (fish internal temperature of 63°C/145°F, how to tell when fish is cooked, time out of refrigeration, washing utensils; accessed and checked August 19, 2026)