Poached Fish in Chilli Oil

Ingredients

• 500 g Basa fish fillet
• 300–500 g Vegetables (such as potato slices, bean sprouts, cauliflower, lettuce)
• 40 g Red chilli bean paste (Doubanjiang)
• 10 g Fermented black beans (Douchi)
• 10 ml Sichuan peppercorn oil
• 25 ml Rapeseed oil
• 3 g White pepper powder
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 5 g Salt
• 2 g Sugar
• 150 ml Hot water

Method

Thaw the basa at room temperature for five hours if frozen. This matters: thawing in cold water or the fridge will waterlog the flesh and ruin the texture once you poach it.

Slice the fillet into 5 cm by 3 cm pieces — uniform thickness so they cook evenly. The marinade does two things: the salt denatures the surface proteins (giving you a silky texture when poached), and the Sichuan peppercorn oil infuses numbing heat into the raw flesh. Combine the fish with 30 g doubanjiang, 3 g salt, 10 ml Sichuan peppercorn oil, and 3 g white pepper powder in a bowl. Mix gently — you're coating, not shredding. Seal with 5 ml rapeseed oil to prevent oxidation. Leave for at least thirty minutes. The fish will begin to cure visibly; the surface will feel slightly tacky.

While that rests, prepare your vegetables. Blanch cauliflower in salted boiling water until a fork meets no resistance — roughly four to five minutes depending on floret size. Lettuce needs no blanch; dry it thoroughly after washing, then stir-fry it briefly in a hot wok without oil until the leaves collapse and darken slightly. This concentrates their flavour and removes excess moisture. Set both aside.

Build the broth in a wok: heat 20 ml rapeseed oil until shimmering, add the remaining 10 g doubanjiang and 10 g fermented black beans, and stir over medium heat for ninety seconds until the paste breaks down and releases its umami. Add minced garlic, stir for thirty seconds — you want fragrance, not colour — then pour in 150 ml hot water and bring to a rolling boil. The heat must be aggressive; the agitation helps the fermented seasonings emulsify into a cohesive sauce.

Slide the marinated fish slices into the boiling broth and stir gently to separate them. They'll cook through in two to three minutes — the flesh will turn opaque and flake easily when nudged with a spoon. Taste and adjust salt and sugar: you're aiming for heat balanced by sweetness, with the fermented funk as the backbone. Transfer everything to a serving bowl, arrange the blanched vegetables and fried lettuce around the fish, and ladle the hot poaching liquid over the top. Serve immediately — the temperature carries the numbing heat of the Sichuan peppercorn and keeps the fish tender.