Szechuan Style Braised Pomfret

Dry a white pomfret well and place on cutting board. Trim off the fins. Score the surface of the fish in a shallow crosshatch pattern on both sides. This will allow the seasoning to penetrate.

Velveting the fish: heat 2~3 cups of cooking oil to 250-300°F/120-150°C, and deep fry the White Pomfret for 2 minutes. 

In a well-oiled wok, stir fry ground pork until fully cooked; add ginger, garlic, green onion, and Sichuan Yibin pickled mustard greens for about a minute. Add water, Sichuan pickled red chilis, brown sugar, and salt. Cook for about 2 minutes. 

Add in the fried pomfret and make sure all pieces are immersed in the sauce.

Add white pepper( to taste) and continue cooking while scooping sauce over catfish. Then add fermented sweet rice, and cook for another 1 minute.

Sprinkle thinly chopped green onion and chili oil. Mix and serve at once.

Enjoy!

Scoring fish (when you make little cuts in the flesh) is one of the best ways to pack a ton of flavor into the meat. Velveting, or guo you (passing through oil) in Mandarin, is a technique that Chinese chefs use to make their meats so deliciously silky and tender. Similar to browning in French cuisine, velveting locks in the original flavor and texture of the protein before it is finished in the next cooking step. You can substitute with pan-frying with two tbsps of oil to achieve similar result.