Suan Cai Yu is a lesser known Sichuan dish that features a hot and sour broth with super tender fish slices. This post includes two versions of the recipe – an easy one that you can finish cooking in 40 minutes; and an authentic one that you’ll want to use when hosting a dinner party. Suan Cai Yu (酸菜鱼) can be translated as “hot and sour fish with pickled mustard greens”. The fish is thinly sliced and poached in a rich broth made from chicken stock, fish stock, and Sichuan pickles. The fish has a velvety and silky texture, with a piquant and zesty taste. It is a great dinner dish that you will find really comforting and satisfying on a chilly day. This fish dish is less well-known outside of China compared to other Szechuan dishes. In fact, even in Chinese restaurants, it’s often overshadowed by its sister dish – the numbingly spicy “water boiled fish” (水煮鱼), or poached fish served in a hot oil broth. The other day, a friend of mine, who had just returned to the US from China, requested this dish. He had just rediscovered it in China and was quite addicted to its flavor. So we decided to have a dinner party and try to develop a recipe to recreate the authentic flavor of the Chinese sauerkraut fish. Long story short, the dinner party was super successful. We got a live 5-pound catfish and some Sichuan pickles from our local Asian market. The cooking process is very similar to that for Sichuan poached beef, which I had cooked a while previously, so everything went very smoothly. Plus, I happened to have just cooked cook this super creamy chicken stock and used it as the soup base. The broth turned out SO GOOD that we could not stop sipping it.
I did come across a small problem. Due to a slight miscommunication, our fish handler only briefly cleaned our fish instead of filleting it. I ended up having to fillet a fish as big as a monster. Because catfish meat is quite dense and springy, it took me a while to finish the job and I ended up with a bloody finger. If you’re trying to fillet a fish at home, be sure to wear knife-proof gloves while working (I got them immediately after cutting my finger). They’re lightweight and fit your hands snugly, so you won’t feel encumbered. After our dinner party, I developed an easier recipe by using pre-cut catfish fillets. If you don’t feel like dealing with a whole fish, you can use this version instead. Compared to the authentic version, I admit, the easy version does not 100% recreate the super rich broth. However, it saves lots of extra procedure and will let you finish the dish in 40 minutes. It’s simple enough that you’ll feel comfortable cooking it for a weekday dinner. On the other hand, if you have extra time and want to serve a big crowd, definitely try the authentic version. The cooking process is almost the same. All you need to do is find a big live fish and a deep skillet large enough to cook it. If possible, use homemade stock. You’ll create a super comforting dish – like a warm bowl of hot and sour soup, only ten times more scrumptious.
Cooking notes
You can use other types of fish, such as tilapia, but I personally always choose catfish over others, due to its fattier texture. To save prep time, get catfish nuggets instead of fillets. Make sure to use the proper type of pickle to recreate the most authentic flavor. You should able to find the pickles at any large Asian market. At the end of cooking, you’ll need to create an herb-infused hot oil and pour it over the fish. It’s a Chinese cooking technique called ming you (明油). It makes the dish look better and adds great flavor to the broth. This step is very important in this dish. It adds a few calories but makes a big difference in flavor.
I hope you enjoy!
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