Boiled Fish (Shuizhu Yu)

Ingredients

• Basa fish
• Vegetables (such as potato slices, bean sprouts, cauliflower, lettuce, etc.)
• Chili bean paste (red oil variety)
• Rattan pepper oil
• Rapeseed oil
• White pepper powder
• Cloves of garlic
• Salt
• Sugar
• Measuring cup
• Kitchen scale (optional)
• Large stainless steel bowl

Steps

1. Preparation: If the basa fish is taken from the freezer, it needs to be left at room temperature to thaw naturally for 5 hours before slicing.
2. Slicing: Slice the basa fish into thin fillets, approximately 5cm long and 3cm wide.
3. Marination: Place the sliced basa fish into a large stainless steel bowl.
4. Add 30g of bean paste, 3g of salt, 10ml of rattan pepper oil, and 3g of white pepper powder.
5. Mix evenly with your hands, then finish by adding 5ml of rapeseed oil to seal in the flavor.
6. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to infuse the flavor.
7. Prep Veggies: Mince the garlic. Using 300g of cauliflower and 200g of lettuce as an example, wash and prep the cauliflower and lettuce.
8. Blanching & Cooking: Blanch the cauliflower in a pot of boiling water and set aside; wash and dry the lettuce and cook until done in a separate pan (no oil needed).
9. Sauté Bean Paste: Heat the pan with cold oil (20ml rapeseed oil), add 10g of bean paste and 10g of fermented black beans (optional), add the minced garlic, and stir-fry over **medium heat**.
10. Cook Fish Fillets: Add 150ml of hot water. Once it boils, add the marinated fish fillets. Gently stir to let the fillets spread in the water. Add 2g of salt and 2g of sugar for seasoning (you can adjust the salt amount to taste at this stage). Once the water boils again, you can serve.
11. Plating: First, scoop the cooked vegetables into the large bowl. Then, scoop the hot fish fillets on top of the vegetables and pour the remaining hot soup from the pan over everything!