Hi all,
OK, I was in China recently and had a particular dish a couple of times. I’d really like to recreate that dish over here (in a particularly cold and damp Scotland) but I can’t find any decent recipes on the web. Now I could just guess and get close but I figured I’d ask you guys.
The dish I had is basically a big bowl/dish of very hot oil flavoured with chilli, peppers and various other things. In this is a (what appears to be a mostly) whole fish which you can then pick the flesh off and eat. I loved it.
I was led to believe that they took the fish, killed it, maybe prepared it in some way, and then plunged it into the hot oil and served to your table after a few minutes.
So, my questions, what’s in the oil ? can I buy it ready made or do I have to put the effort in to create it ? What’s the base oil ? What type of fish would work ? How do I prepare said fish ? Etc, etc.
I know that’s a lot of questions, but I’m hoping someone could point me in roughly the right direction before I resort to just complete guesswork – baring in mind that I normally don’t like fish and have therefore never cooked it before.
Thanks,
SD
Well, you can buy it easily in New York. Every Korean-run greengrocer has hot chili oil, as well as chili puree, which is hot peppers bottled with rice vinegar, salt, and garlic.
If Edinburgh doesn’t come up to the mark for international grocery shopping, try this: Take a half cup of peanut oil, add a dozen dried hot chili peppers (break them up with your fingers), and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the oil becomes dark red. Cool and strain. This is called either Szechwan Oil or Red Pepper Oil. You can add a little sesame oil for a richer flavor.
Now can take a fish, salt and pepper it, and cook it any way you like. Serve the oil alongside as a condiment.
Thanks Ike ( can I call you Ike, is that too informal ?).
There are a few chinese supermarkets in Edinburgh, so I’ll have a look around and if not I’ll try your idea at some point.
I’m just surprised I can’t find the recipe somewhere because it seemed to be fairly common in China.
Add a few fermented black beans too. Gives it a nice rich bottom.
Commence with the bottom jokes.
SpaceDog,
I found this recipe that may or may not be what you’re looking for: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~yche156/recipes/recipe_fish_3.html
If you don’t have any luck with chili oil at your local Chinese market (which would be a crime as it’s a basic item), you could always try internet gorcery stores. I don’t have one to recommend, but I know there are tons of them that will be happy to ship a bottle to you.
Good luck!