Spicy Stir Fried Fish

This wok-fried fish dish brings the kind of heat you’d find in a Sichuan restaurant. Whitefish fillets get fried in hot peanut oil until lightly browned, then returned to a spicy sauce built from tomato sauce, dried mushrooms, bamboo shoots, rice wine, soy sauce, and a full two tablespoons of red pepper flakes.

Two tablespoons of red pepper flakes is not a typo. This recipe means business. The heat is front and center, tempered slightly by the sugar and the savory depth from the soy sauce and dried mushrooms. If you’re sensitive to spice, start with one tablespoon and work up.

Frying the fish first in very hot peanut oil gives it a firm, golden exterior that holds up when it goes back into the sauce. Delicate white fish falls apart easily, so handle it gently and stir only enough to coat it in the sauce.

The cornstarch slurry at the end pulls everything together into a glossy, clingy coating that wraps each piece of fish in the spiced sauce. Garnish with chopped scallions for a fresh, green contrast.

Chef Tips

• Use a firm whitefish like cod, halibut, or tilapia. Very flaky fish like sole will break apart during frying.
• Soak the dried mushrooms for the full 10 minutes. Undersoaked mushrooms are tough and chewy.
• Pour off all but two tablespoons of oil after frying the fish. Too much residual oil makes the sauce greasy.
• Dissolve the cornstarch completely in water before adding. Undissolved starch creates lumps in the sauce.

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of black bean paste for a more complex, fermented depth.
• Swap the bamboo shoots for water chestnuts for a crunchier texture.
• Serve over steamed rice to absorb the fiery sauce.