Dry-Braised Fish
Manuscript recipe entry title: “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” · Recorded in The True Craft of China’s Sichuan Cuisine Masters
This tool is built from the “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” entry and the general “dry-braising” technique discussion in The True Craft of China’s Sichuan Cuisine Masters manuscript · For educational reference only
📋 A Note on Evidence Strength
This page’s source material is the “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” entry (with a precise recipe) in The True Craft of China’s Sichuan Cuisine Masters manuscript, plus a passage from the same manuscript’s general discussion of “braising” technique that explains “dry-braising.” No other historical events (state-banquet menus, praise from notable guests, etc.) about this dish are currently on record. Manuscript recipe
⚠️ A Note Distinguishing Two Kinds of Source Material
The manuscript’s “11. Braising” chapter contains a general passage on the “dry-braising” technique (see the “Background on Dry-Braising Technique” card below), explaining its definition and key points of execution — this is a general discussion of the technique, without precise gram amounts and without a recipe tied to any one specific dish. There is separately a formal recipe entry with precise gram amounts, “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback,” and it’s this entry’s data that the recipe table on this page uses. Both come from the same manuscript, The True Craft of China’s Sichuan Cuisine Masters, just from different chapters with different kinds of material — they are presented faithfully, side by side. Do not mistake the general technique discussion for a formal recipe with gram amounts. Two different kinds of material, presented side by side, faithfully
📖 Background on “Dry-Braising” Technique (Manuscript’s General Discussion)
The manuscript’s “11. Braising” chapter reads: “Dry-braising does not use a bean-starch slurry to thicken the sauce. Over high heat, the sauce is reduced until it turns glossy with oil; when no trace of liquid broth remains, this is called dry-braising. Examples include dry-braised prawns, dry-braised fish, dry-braised shark fin, dry-braised scallop, dry-braised deer tendon, dry-braised beef tripe, and so on.”
It also includes a passage describing the technique: "For example, the method and characteristics of dry-braised fish are as follows: scale the fish, remove the gills, clean out and rinse the innards, score the fish’s sides with cuts an inch apart, rub cooking wine and salt onto the fish, dice fatback into soybean-sized pieces and fry them dry and crisp before setting them aside in a bowl, and mince the doubanjiang finely for later use. Add cold oil to the wok, place it over high heat, and once hot, deep-fry the fish and remove it; leave a little oil in the wok, fry the doubanjiang dry and crisp, add stock, bring to a boil, strain out the doubanjiang solids, add the fish, diced fatback, ginger, garlic, and cooking wine, move it to the heat and braise, and once the fish is cooked through, move the wok to high heat, add MSG, vinegar, and scallion, and cook until the sauce shows oil and liquid but no trace of broth, then remove and plate. Characteristics: shows oil and sauce but no broth, richly flavored, fresh, and mildly spicy, golden and glossy in color."
⚠️ The above is the manuscript’s general discussion of the “dry-braising” cooking technique, without precise gram amounts — it should not be used as a formal recipe. The recipe table in the body of this page uses the “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” entry below, which does have precise gram amounts; the two are not the same material.
🔀 From the Chengdu version to the state-banquet version: why it was changed
According to Chen Tinglong’s A Brief Account of State-Banquet Sichuan Cuisine, the Chengdu dish put preserved-mustard mince in the pork sauce and added pickled chilli segments; leave the chilli out and it is simply winter-vegetable minced fish. The reason he gives for reworking it is not that it tasted bad, but that — “the difference was not clear enough, the flavour type not distinct enough. To go on a state-banquet table it had to be improved.”
After the rework: fatback in dice of about thirteen millimetres, ginger and garlic in dice of about ten, fine spring onion cut into short lengths; mandarin fish scored in a cross-hatch, seasoned and browned on both sides; chilli-oil bean paste with aged bean paste, ginger, spring onion and garlic fried until fragrant and coloured, moistened with rich stock and simmered, then the bean-paste solids and the aromatics are strained out to leave a thick red sauce; the fish and the diced ginger and garlic go back in and cook until the sauce reduces to a gloss of oil, finished with the spring onion.
“The method was quickly imitated in Beijing and spread. It was also given the names oil-diced dry-braised fish and Daqian dry-braised fish.” — the formal recipe used on this page, “dry-braised oil-diced fish”, belongs to that line. One further adjustment was made to suit the locality: where the Chengdu version’s minced pork used preserved mustard greens, pickled chilli and lean pork, the Beijing house switched to diced fat pork and dried bamboo shoot with bean paste, to suit northern palates. family sources cross-checked; independent verification pending
🎯 Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback · Preparation Stages Overview
Marinate with cooking wine, salt, white pepper
Pour off excess oil
Add stock and fish, braise through over low heat
Add vinegar and scallion, pour over the fish
The four stages above are distilled from the original method text in the “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” entry of The True Craft of China’s Sichuan Cuisine Masters; see “Follow the Old Master” for the complete steps.
📋 Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback · Formal Recipe
The recipe data below is retold from the original text of the “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” entry in The True Craft of China’s Sichuan Cuisine Masters, and is not the same material as the general “dry-braising” technique discussion above. A note in the original manuscript: by this method, grass carp can be substituted with mandarin fish, common carp, or crucian carp, whole or as a mid-section cut. Manuscript recipe
| Category | Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main | Grass carp | 1000g | Can substitute mandarin fish, common carp, or crucian carp; whole or mid-section |
| Accompaniment | Diced fatback | 75g | Skin removed, diced to the size of soybeans |
| Seasonings | Doubanjiang | 75g | Fried until red |
| Cooking oil | 175g | For frying the fish and the doubanjiang | |
| Soy sauce, salt, MSG, cooking wine, white pepper | Each to taste | No specific gram amounts noted in the manuscript | |
| Diced ginger, diced garlic, diced scallion | Each to taste | For aroma and garnish | |
| Vinegar | To taste | Added just before reducing the sauce |
Ratio visualization (the three items with precise gram amounts in the manuscript, baselined to 175g of cooking oil):
Only doubanjiang, diced fatback, and cooking oil are noted with precise gram amounts in this entry; the other seasonings (soy sauce, salt, MSG, cooking wine, white pepper, diced ginger, diced garlic, diced scallion, vinegar) are listed only by category, without gram amounts in the manuscript, and are not included in the bar chart. Bar lengths are proportional to gram amounts, for visual reference only.
See “Follow the Old Master” for the complete method.
Source: recipe and method drawn from the “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” entry in The True Craft of China’s Sichuan Cuisine Masters
👨🍳 Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback · Method
The steps below break down the original method text of the “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” entry in The True Craft of China’s Sichuan Cuisine Masters into four steps. The manuscript does not record any spoken account from Chen Songru himself about the specific operations, and the “master says” column notes this faithfully. Tap the circle on the right after completing each step.
✅ Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback · Self-Check
The check items below are based on the core standard from the manuscript’s general discussion of “dry-braising” technique, along with the assessment given in the original text of the “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” entry, to test whether this dish meets the mark.
This AI converses with you in the persona of state-banquet Sichuan cuisine master Chen Songru (1921—1993). It is an inferential persona simulation built from his biographical record and disciples’ recollections — it is not a complete restoration of Chen Songru’s actual thinking. The biography itself tends toward embellishment.
You can treat what I say as a reference for how an old-school Sichuan chef might think, not as historical fact. Important note: the current source material for this dish is the “Dry-Braised Fish with Diced Fatback” entry and the general “dry-braising” technique discussion in The True Craft of China’s Sichuan Cuisine Masters manuscript — no other historical events (state-banquet menus, praise from notable guests, etc.) about this dish are currently on record. The general technique discussion and the formal recipe are two different kinds of material, as explained in detail in the “Technique Matrix” module. The keyword-matched replies are likewise adapted from genuine historical material, not purely invented dialogue.
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