A simple recipe for a fish stir fry that works with most fish. Coated in a light batter, the fish is cooked with chiles, garlic, green onions and ginger.

Stir fried fish isn’t overly common in China, or at least I haven’t seen it too much. (China is a big place, after all.) Probably because the violent heat and constant stirring of a stir fry would break up most fish.

Precooking it in a batter solves this problem, and it adds that crispy, crunchy element we all know and love. So that’s what I did.

Most recipes for fish stir fry are Cantonese, which is a lighter, less aggressive cuisine than this recipe, which is inspired by Sichuan cooking. The base of this dish is the combination of flavors called “fish fragrant.”

That means in addition to the Chinese “holy trinity” of garlic, ginger and chiles, there’s chile bean paste, vinegar and Sichuan peppercorns.

Interestingly, “fish fragrant” dishes don’t normally use fish; I have a recipe for fish fragrant pheasant that’s more typical. But figured someone somewhere must be making fish fragrant fish, so why not?

Ingredients

I want to go over a few of the optional Chinese ingredients that will bring your fish stir fry closer to actual Sichuan cooking.

All are available in Asian markets or online, but are rarely seen in “regular” supermarkets. But fear not, you can either skip them or I’ll give you alternates.

• The chile bean paste I use is called pixian; doubanjiang is similar. It’s salty, fermented fava beans and is a common ingredient in Sichuan cuisine. The “black bean paste” you see in supermarkets isn’t the same, but it’ll get you close. Don’t skip this one.
• I use Chinese black vinegar here, but the easier-to-find malt vinegar will get you in the ballpark.
• Finally, Sichuan peppercorns are a cool ingredient that is spicy and numbing. (They take some getting used to if you’ve never had them.) I buy Sichuan peppercorns online. You can skip this if you want.

Side note: You can also buy green Sichuan peppercorns, which are stronger in flavor, and which are often used with fish and seafood. I love them, but beware: the green Sichuan peppercorns fade in flavor within 6 months.

Fish in Fish Stir Fry

I used California halibut here because it’s a fish I catch often. But any firm, white fish works well. Other great saltwater options would be seabass, lingcod, tautog, Pacific rockfish, snapper, grouper, or cobia.

For freshwater, you’ll want a fish you can get nice chunks out of, so catfish, large walleye, burbot, big bass, and, believe it or not, carp and buffalofish are great here because you generally chunk them up to avoid the big bones.

Shrimp, lobster, scallops or even clams would be a nice seafood option.

Serving and Storing

Serve your fish stir fry with steamed rice or all by itself. It does not store well at all, so make it and eat it.

If you want to make this as part of a larger Chinese meal, you can add dishes like Chinese braised mushrooms or scallion pancakes. Another good accompaniment would be Chinese lettuce cups.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below; I’d love to hear how everything went. If you’re on Instagram, share a picture and tag me at huntgathercook.