Project Sichuan #6 - Water Boiled Fish - Silky fish meets Sichuan fire.

There are few dishes which highlight the incredible spicy and mouth numbing sensation and taste of Sichuanese mala wei better than Water Boiled Fish (Shui Zhu Yu). This is one of the most popular Sichuan selections, both inside China and out. It’s the dish that induces a hush of voices around the table when first presented – sizzling oil bubbling atop a boiling caldron of blazing red chiles, green Sichuan peppercorns and snow white tiles of silky fish unlike any you’ve ever had anywhere. It’s mala madness.

Hot oil and chilis sizzle atop water boiled fish at Spiced Up Szechuan in Seattle.

The Western notion of fish boiled in water sounds sort of lame. Just picture a piece of white fish, poached in water — bland and boring. But this dish is the polar opposite of that. It is for many one of the most enticing recipes to grace a Sichuan table. Instead of insipid it is big and bold, with flavors of fiery chilies, bean paste, sprouts, green onions and the most succulent planks of tender fish you can ever eat. Add to that the noise of boiling oil on the surface of the dish and it is downright thrilling. 

For newbies it sounds both a little scary and really unhealthy. A slick layer of oil caps the surface of the large bowl, evoking thoughts of stern conversations with one's doctor. But this fish is not fried in oil, as one might fear. It’s cut into small filet tiles, slipped into a flavorful broth until just barely cooked and then poured on top of the sprouts and spices that favored the broth. Next, you pile on red chilis and a heaping handful of sichuan peppercorns. It is here that the real magic happens, as you pour a small amount of hot oil over those chilis and peppercorns. They sizzle and pop and shoot steam upwards as the oil hits the water and the chilies release their flash-cooked fragrance. It’s a photogenic moment for those who love to document their eating, but shoot fast, because the boiling ends quickly and the fish will disappear almost as fast once everyone dives in.

Signifying friendship, gathering and celebration, the large bowl always goes in the center of the table so that everyone can reach for it equally. Because anyone who's ever had it before knows that this dish, above all others, is best shared family style, with each person dipping their chopsticks in to find their own mouthful of love. Snow white fish peeks out between bright red chilies, shiny oil and alluring ground spices. It's like looking into a colorful witches' caldron as puffs of luscious, hot steam rise from the menacing crimson liquid. Approaching that first taste – even the aroma and steam before you get it to your mouth – will make your eyes widen in fearful anticipation. It’s hot as lava, spicy as hell and more numbing than novacaine in any dentist's chair. But once that fish melts in your mouth like liquid silk you’ll no longer care about the consequences of this spicy, oily, tingly dish. You’ll just eat more and more. 

And as you eat it you begin to understand why Water Boiled Fish separates itself from all other Chinese dishes. It highlights the brazenness of this fiery food and distinguishes itself as proof of the supremacy of Sichuan cuisine in a universe of serious, spicy eating. There is a visual beauty to it and, while it presents as a noisy, steamy heatfest of conflicting cooking, you quickly realize that whoever warned you to never mix oil and water had never had this dish. Which is just one of the reasons why – perhaps more than any other in the vast sea of Sichuan food – this is the dish that you will dream about and crave long after the memory of other food on the table has passed.