Skip to content
FriendsPantry

Chinese

Hunan steamed fish with chopped chillies

Non-vegetarian

剁椒鱼头 · duòjiāo yútóu

Fish steamed under a thick blanket of salty, sour chopped red chillies, then finished with sizzling oil and spring onion. Hunan's best-known banquet dish, made here with fish pieces for a home kitchen.

Hunan steamed fish with chopped chillies is a Chinese main course from China, ready in about 35 minutes and made with sea bass and fresh red chilli. It serves 4 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking
Steamed fish head topped with chopped red and yellow chillies, with noodles
Photo: N509FZ / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
20 min
Cook
15 min
Total
35 min
Serves
4
Level
Intermediate
Calories
272

Chopped chillies taste best made a day or more ahead.

Ingredients

4 servings

Quick chopped chillies

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Mix the chopped chillies with 1 tsp of the salt, the vinegar and garlic (opens in a new tab). Use straight away, or jar and refrigerate for a day or two to develop a fermented tang.

    • 5 min

  2. Step 2

    Rub the fish with the remaining salt and the wine, lay it on a heatproof plate on the ginger slices and leave for 10 minutes.

    • 10 min

  3. Step 3

    Pour off any liquid, then spread the chilli mixture and minced ginger thickly over the fish.

    • 2 min

  4. Step 4

    Steam over rapidly boiling water until the flesh flakes at the thickest part (about 10 minutes for fillets, 12–15 for a whole fish).

    Food safety: Fish is done when opaque right through to the bone.

  5. Step 5

    Drizzle the soy sauce (opens in a new tab) around the fish and scatter over the spring onion (opens in a new tab). Heat the oil until just smoking and pour it over so it sizzles.

    Food safety: Hot oil spits — pour slowly and keep faces back.

    Fresh herbs scattered over a finished dish
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Hunan, China · Commonly attributedClassically made with the head of a bighead carp; whole fish or fillets work at home.More food from China
Dish
Dinner · Main courses
Cooking method
Steamed
Taste
spicy (chilli heat), tangy, salty
Diet
Pescatarian · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Low-carb · High-protein
All labelsPescatarian · Non-vegetarian · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb · High-protein · Calorie-conscious
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Festive & celebration
Cook more with
Sea bass · Fresh red chilli · Rice vinegar · Garlic · Fresh ginger · Shaoxing wine
Techniques
Boiling · Steaming · Fermentation

Allergens

  • Contains: Fishfrom sea bass
  • Contains: Wheatfrom shaoxing wine, soy sauce
  • Contains: Glutenfrom shaoxing wine, soy sauce
  • Contains: Soyfrom soy sauce

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

272 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 232 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 44%
  • Carbohydrate 10%
  • Fat 46%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy272 kcal117 kcal
Protein29.3 g12.6 g
Carbohydrate6.7 g2.9 g
Net carbohydrate5.7 g2.4 g
Sugars2.4 g1 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre1.1 g0.5 g
Fat13.5 g5.8 g
Saturated fat1.6 g0.7 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol62 mg27 mg
Sodium1216 mg525 mg
Salt equivalent3 g1.3 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
592 mg
Calcium
39 mg
Iron
1.2 mg
Magnesium
79 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
93 µg
Vitamin C
58 mg
Vitamin D
8.4 µg
Vitamin B12
0.5 µg
Folate (DFE)
25 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Rice vinegar: Distilled vinegar (FDC 172237) used as a stand-in for unseasoned rice vinegar.
  • Shaoxing wine: Sake (FDC 167723) used as a stand-in for Chinese rice cooking wine.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • The leftover chilli juices are prized for tossing through plain wheat noodles.

Common mistakes

  • Oversteaming — check at the minimum time; the flesh should only just flake.
  • Using wet chopped chillies straight from the board: salt them first so they release water and taste seasoned.

Serve with

  • Serve with steamed rice; add cooked noodles to the plate at the end to soak up the sauce.

Storage

  • Best eaten fresh; leftover chopped chillies keep 2 weeks refrigerated.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

  • Sea bass, whole fish or thick fillets, cleaned and scored600 g
Used in step 2

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

You might also like