Chinese Grilled Fish, or kǎo yú (烤鱼), is a Sichuan dish that gained popularity in China some years ago. Consisting of a crispy grilled (or in our case, pan-fried) white, flaky fish and a spicy sauce with vegetables and other goodies to dig around for in the pan, it was one of my favorite “dining out” dishes when we were living in China.
Growing In Popularity
While other trendy dishes like Sichuan Boiled Fish (shuǐ zhǔ yú – 水煮鱼) and Spicy Numbing Stir-fry Pot (málà xiāng guō – 麻辣香锅) have become more familiar in the United States, Chinese grilled fish (kao yu) has taken a bit more time.
That said, I’ve seen it in several restaurants here in the States, and even recently visited a Chinese Kao Yu chain restaurant!
I think what makes the dish so appealing is the fact that the fish and add-ins (vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, and even other meats) all act as a blank canvas for the intense flavors of the sauce. Not only that, it’s usually served in a chafing dish with a flame underneath to keep everything hot.
Just like hot pot, you can make kao yu with different flavors, like pickled chili pepper (剁椒味),pickled mustard (酸菜味), or garlic flavor (蒜香味). This recipe is spicy, garlicky, and if you include Sichuan peppercorns, it has another layer of flavor—numbing, citrus-y, and earthy. If you don’t like spicy food, use regular bean paste instead of spicy bean sauce.
Make It Your Own
Making Kao Yu might look complicated with all the ingredients involved. But while the washing and cutting do take some time, the beauty of the dish is that you can customize it according to what you like or have on hand.
Use your favorite vegetables, tofu products, mushrooms, and/or glass noodles. Roasted peanuts, fried soybeans, and toasted sesame seeds all make good garnishes.
Chinese grilled fish is ultimately a satisfying one-pan meal, and a very impressive dish for a dinner party gathering with friends. While the dish is usually done with a whole fish, you could also use fish fillets if you’d rather not deal with bones.
While the original dish calls for the whole fish to be grilled (usually over an open fire), I used the pan-frying method in my wok, which is much easier to do at home. A couple important points:
- The fish must be marinated (only for about 30 minutes). This will ensure that the fish itself has flavor, so you’re not only relying on the sauce.
- Cook the fish through during the pan-frying/roasting process. While you’re going to serve it over a bed of vegetables and other ingredients, the fish itself only cooks once.
- This dish is usually served with a flame underneath to keep it hot. We omit this step since this is home-cooking.
Kao Yu Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Marinate the fish
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. I asked the fishmonger at our Chinese grocery store to do all this, and it took him about 2 minutes!
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.
Step 2: Prepare the vegetables
At Kaoyu restaurants, you will often get a choice of the vegetables, tofu items, and other add-ins for the dish, similar to going to a hot pot restaurant. I used:
- Dried bean threads/bean curd sticks
- Celery
- King trumpet mushrooms
- Lotus root
- Soybean sprouts
Other options to consider include:
- Potato (thinly sliced into rounds)
- Onion (thinly sliced)
- Firm Tofu (cut into ½-inch thick squares)
- Wood ears
- Shiitake mushrooms (thinly sliced)
- Enoki Mushrooms (broken up into smaller bundles) – short cooking time!
- Beech/bunashimeji/seafood mushrooms (separated into individual mushrooms)
- Oyster mushrooms (roughly torn)
- Bamboo Shoots (thinly sliced)
- Kelp/seaweed (bite-size pieces)
- Broccoli (cut into small florets)
- Cauliflower (preferably Chinese cauliflower, divided into florets)
- Daikon Radish (thinly sliced)
- Winter melon (sliced)
Choose veggie options that do not produce a lot of liquid during cooking.
Note that from the above list, enoki mushrooms are similar to soybean sprouts in that they cook very quickly. Add them in the last 1-2 minutes of cooking!
Step 3: Cook the Fish
Once you have all the ingredients prepared, you can start cooking.
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 flip. 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.
My 2-pound branzino took about 6 minutes on the skin side and 3 – 4 minutes on the other side.
Turn off the heat and transfer the cooked fish to a large plate.
Step 4: Assemble the dish
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 (or use a roasting pan like I did). Top with the cooked fish.
Garnish with scallion and/or cilantro, and serve immediately. Spoon the sauce over the fish, and enjoy!
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Recipe
Chinese Grilled Fish (Kao Yu – 烤鱼)
Ingredients
For the fish:
- 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
For the rest of the dish:
- 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)
Instructions
Step 1: Marinate the fish
- 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.
Step 2: Prepare the vegetables
- Prepare the bean threads, celery, mushrooms, lotus root, and soybean sprouts, and set aside on a plate.
Step 3: Cook the fish
- 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.
Step 4: Assemble the dish
- 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!
Tips & Notes:
- Potato (thinly sliced into rounds)
- Onion (thinly sliced)
- Firm Tofu (cut into ½-inch thick squares)
- Wood ears
- Shiitake mushrooms (thinly sliced)
- Enoki Mushrooms (broken up into smaller bundles) – short cooking time!
- Beech/bunashimeji/seafood mushrooms (separated into individual mushrooms)
- Oyster mushrooms (roughly torn)
- Bamboo Shoots (thinly sliced)
- Kelp/seaweed (bite-size pieces)
- Broccoli (cut into small florets)
- Cauliflower (preferably Chinese cauliflower, divided into florets)
- Daikon Radish (thinly sliced)
- Winter melon (sliced)
