Chinese Grilled Fish (Kao Yu - 烤鱼)

Chinese Grilled Fish, or kǎo yú (烤鱼), is a popular Sichuan dish of grilled flaky fish and a spicy sauce with vegetables and other goodies!

Prep Time45

Cook Time20

Total Time1 5

Course: Fish

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 364kcal

Author: Judy

2 pound whole fish (scaled, gutted & cleaned; choose a flaky white fish such as tilapia, catfish, large-mouth bass, or branzino)
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
½ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon salt

2 ounces dried bean threads/bean curd sticks (foo jook; soaked and cut into 2-inch/5cm pieces)
3 ounces celery (thinly sliced into bite-size pieces)
3 ounces mushrooms (such as wood ear, enoki, beech, oyster, king trumpet, or shiitake mushroom)
6 ounces lotus root (peeled and thinly sliced)
4 ounces soybean sprouts
4 tablespoons neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil, divided)
6 slices ginger (thinly sliced)
15 cloves garlic (smashed)
10 g dried chilies (optional)
1 tablespoon whole Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
6 bay leaves
3 star anise pods
¼ cup spicy bean sauce (辣豆瓣酱; or use regular bean paste)
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
4 cups low sodium chicken stock (or water)
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt to taste
½ cup scallions and/or cilantro (scallions sliced on an angle, cilantro chopped or torn)

Make sure your fish is thoroughly cleaned and scaled, and remove the black membrane off the belly. Then butterfly it by splitting the fish in half on the back side (not the belly side) while keeping the belly intact. You can also ask your fishmonger to do this.
Pat the fish very dry with a paper towel. Rub the Shaoxing wine all over the fish, followed by the salt and white pepper. Marinate for 30 minutes.

Prepare the bean threads, celery, mushrooms, lotus root, and soybean sprouts, and set aside on a plate.

Preheat your wok over high heat until it starts to smoke lightly. It is extremely IMPORTANT TO PREHEAT THE WOK PROPERLY, or your fish may stick.
Coat the wok with 3 tablespoons oil. Place the butterflied fish in the wok skin-side down, and pan-fry over high heat until golden brown, about 5-6 minutes. Rotate/move the wok around so the fish fries evenly. Adjust the heat as needed to avoid burning.
Gently shake the wok. The fish should move on its own if it is ready to be flipped. Now use two sturdy spatulas to carefully flip the fish and brown the other side until the fish is completely cooked through, about 3 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fish and the heat from your stove. The fish is done when it’s golden brown and the meat can be separated from the center bone. Turn off the heat and transfer the cooked fish to a large plate.

If you follow these steps correctly, you should have some oil left in the wok and it should be mostly clean. With the heat at medium-high, add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Cook the ginger, garlic, chilies (if using), Sichuan peppercorns (if using), bay leaves, and star anise pods for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the spicy bean sauce. Stir-fry everything until the oil turns red from the bean sauce, adjusting the heat as needed to avoid burning.
Now add the Shaoxing wine, chicken stock/water, and sugar. Bring to a boil, then add all the dried bean threads, celery, mushrooms, and lotus root. Bring everything to a boil, and cook the ingredients until crisp-tender. In the last minute of cooking, stir in the soybean sprouts.
Add salt to taste, then carefully pour everything into a large deep serving dish. Top with the cooked fish, scallion and/or cilantro, and serve immediately. Spoon the sauce over the fish, and enjoy!

Nutrition information is for 6 servings. Recipe can serve up to 6, but might better serve 4 people if you have big eaters!

Other vegetable add-in options include: