Inspired from restuarants sichuan House, Lifu...One of My all time fav

Here’s another popular Sichuan dish, Spicy Fish Fillet. It has so many flavors with the saltiness of the spicy bean paste and the sweetness of cinnamon and aniseed. Typically napa cabbage and soy bean sprouts are used as base, although they need cooking separately. This dish in the restaurants is often loaded with oil. I made it much lighter without losing the unique flavors of the dish. The spiciness can be adjusted by increasing or reducing the amount of chili pepper and chili powder.

About Shuizhu:


Shuizhuroupian (Chinese: 水煮肉片; pinyin: shǔizhǔròupiàn) is a Chinese dish which originated from the cuisine of Sichuan province and the name literally means "water-cooked meat slices". The preparation of this dish usually involves some sort of meat (usually it is beef), chili pepper, and a large amount of vegetable oil.
The meat is prepared with water, starch, and a slight amount of salt. Boiled vegetables are placed at the bottom of the serving bowl or dish. The prepared raw meat is poached in water that is heated to boiling point for 20–30 seconds, just enough to remove rawness yet preserving the meat's tenderness. Then it is drained and put in the serving dish with vegetables. Minced dried chili,sichuan pepper, minced garlic, and other seasoning are spread over the meat. Vegetable oil is heated in a pan nearly to smoking point, then poured over the prepared meat and vegetable.
This dish maintains tenderness of the meat by poaching it instead of stir frying. It offers a good combination of tender meat, freshness of vegetable, hot spicy flavor of chili pepper, and numbing sensation of Sichuan pepper.


Ingredients:


2 Basa fillets (or tilapia), about 1 pound, cut into thin slices
2 lettuce leaves, broke into pieces
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine
4 tablespoon canola oil
8 dried chili pepper
1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper corn
4 gloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minces ginger
2 scallions, chopped
1 tablespoon spicy bean paste
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 star aniseed
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup water

Method:


1. Season and marinate fish with corn starch, salt, white pepper powder and cooking wine for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Heat up oil to medium heat. Sauté chili pepper and Sichuan pepper for about 1 to 2 minutes till color changes. Take out and set aside.
3. Add garlic, ginger, white parts of scallions, spicy bean paste, chili powder, sugar, cinnamon stick and aniseed into the pan. Sauté about 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Turn the heat to high. Add chicken stock and water in. Mix well.
5. When it boils, place fish piece by piece into the pan. Let it cook about 3 to 4 minutes. Occasionally move around gently.
6. Scoop out fish onto lettuce leaves in a bowl. Place chili pepper and Sichuan pepper on top. Garnish with remaining scallions. Serve.