Fish with chili-bean paste

Public reference · Home adaptation Douban — chili-bean paste — is one of Sichuan's foundational seasonings, and the local-history account lists it among the nearly a hundred jin of aromatics a large feast requires. Fish with bean paste is the only fish on this table, and the paste is what suppresses the fishy note and supplies the red colour. The entry records that traditional versions use the plain home-style seasoning while more recent ones use the fish-fragrant style with more sugar and vinegar, so the dish has drifted sweeter and sharper over time. This version takes the earlier savoury-with-sweet-finish line. It takes only the public technique and does not claim any jiudouwan-specific formula. **The seat record names the dish but not the method**: the local-history account lists fish with chili-bean paste among the braises alongside braised pork elbow, pork with bamboo shoots, shaoshijin and re-cooked chicken, by name only. This version's method is taken from method one of the public encyclopedia entry (live fish, with scallion, ginger, garlic, salt, sugar, peppercorn, bouillon, bean paste and starch slurry; oil at 60 % heat, fry the fish to pale gold on both sides and push it aside, fry the paste, garlic, ginger and scallion until fragrant and the oil red, add soy and stock, push the fish back into the liquor, cover and simmer about 5 minutes over low heat adding sugar as it cooks, lift out the fish, thicken the liquor with slurry, and when glossy add vinegar and scallion before pouring). It has no exclusive correspondence to jiudouwan. **The fish is fixed and stated**: the entry says “live fish” without naming a species. This version fixes sea bass or carp, common freshwater fish, and records that the choice is editorial, since home-style versions use a fine-skinned freshwater fish that does not break up. **Frying is partly downgraded and disclosed**: the cited method fries in oil; this version keeps the sear but notes that with less oil at home the fish can be seared briefly to set, then flavoured in the liquor. The entry's method two itself records that some people sear first and then braise, which is the route taken here. **Bones are flagged**: a whole fish on the table has bones; this is stated in the allergen note, with a note that fillets can be used instead. **Quantities are editorial and untested**: a 500 g sea bass, 30 g of paste and 5 minutes of simmering are editorial settings for four servings; not kitchen-tested. **Technique only, no therapeutic claims**: the cited entry carries lengthy “food incompatibility” and nutritional sections; none of it is adopted. **Contains fish (sea bass or carp)** — the only fish dish on this menu; do not eat if allergic to fish. Soy (bean paste, light soy) and wheat may also be present. **A whole fish carries bones**; take care for children and the elderly, or cook fillets the same way. Bean paste may carry other allergens; check labels. Contains meat; not a vegetarian dish. 阿坝州地方志办公室：传统川菜“九斗碗”（发布 2013-08-09） — Menu source 1. It records jiudouwan as also called tianxi and san-zheng-jiukou-xi; the three steamed dishes as rice-flour pork, savory and sweet shaobai (jiasha rou); the braises as braised or steamed pork elbow, pork with bamboo shoots, mixed braise (shaoshijin), re-cooked chicken and fish with chili-bean paste; the cold dishes as braised pork elbow (or steamed pork elbow), pork with bamboo shoots, shaoshijin, re-cooked chicken and fish with chili-bean paste; the stir-fries as bamboo shoots fried in lard, gong bao diced pork and shredded pork with yellow chives; the stew as stewed tuotuosu pork; spinach and flash-fried cabbage as table fillers. It also records that a feast without the three steamed dishes is not a feast, that each bowl holds eight slices of pork, and the serving order of cold dishes, steamed dishes, stir-fries, braises, stews and soup. https://dfzb.abazhou.gov.cn/abzdfsbgs/c104049/201308/e7ab6e8e28a04dc9836c6b82d420b5c9.shtml 中文百科全書：九斗碗（又称坝坝宴、九大碗） — Menu source 2. It records jiudouwan as a Sichuan feast whose “dou” means a large vessel in Sichuan speech, with nine bowls as a minimum and versions of seven or eleven; its contents as home-style dishes made from whatever chicken, duck, fish, pork, eggs and seasonal vegetables the household has, listing soy-braised pork elbow and white-sauce three delicacies as representative dishes, served in farmyards on improvised stoves. https://newton.com.tw/wiki/%E4%B9%9D%E6%96%97%E7%A2%97/2750801 中文百科全書：豆瓣魚（做法一） — Core method (method one): live fish with green and red chillies, and scallion, ginger, garlic, salt, sugar, peppercorn, bouillon, bean paste and starch slurry. Scale, gut and rinse the fish, score both sides, rub with salt; chop the scallion, mince the ginger and garlic, chop the paste. Heat oil to 60 %, add the fish and fry to pale gold on both sides, then push the fish aside with the spatula and fry the paste, garlic, ginger and scallion until fragrant and the oil red; add soy and stock, slide the fish back into the liquor, cover and simmer about 5 minutes over low heat, adding sugar as it cooks, until the fish has taken the flavour, then lift out the fish. Thicken the liquor with slurry; when glossy, add vinegar and scallion, stir and pour over. The entry also records that traditional versions use the home-style seasoning while modern ones use the fish-fragrant style with more sugar and vinegar, and its method two uses sea bass with 2 tbsp Pixian paste: blanch to set, fry the paste over low heat for red oil, add ginger, garlic, stock, sugar, wine and vinegar, simmer the fish about 15 minutes, and finish with chopped chilli and scallion. https://newton.com.tw/wiki/%E8%B1%86%E7%93%A3%E9%AD%9A FDA: Food Allergies — Basis for declaring fish, soy and wheat allergens. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/food-allergies AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.

Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.