The Indo-Chinese chilli fish is a restaurant classic in any Chinese restaurant in India. The saucy stir fried tender fish cubes with crunchy veggies is a taste bud satisfying combination and can be served as a quick party snack or as a meal on top of white rice!
Chilli chicken in Indo-Chinese cuisine has gained immense popularity, but unfortunately chilli fish was left behind a little, which might be because chicken has a higher universal appeal than fish. But this chilli fish is a must try dish, trust me!
Even if you are a chicken lover, you should give this one a try and make it at home. I can bet that you will keep making this chilli fish again and again! The crispy bite-sized fish cubes stir-fried in a spicy sauce blend along with crispy veggies – I am sure you are gonna love it as much as I do!
I simply loved the succulent cubes of fish laced with sweet & spicy saucy gravy topped with green gem-like spring onion! The fish coated with cornflour and stir fried in a flavor-packed sauce has a melt in mouth texture which is unparalleled!
As the name suggests, chilli fish is a spicy dish and the heat quotient is incorporated with the help of two ingredients – red chilli sauce and fresh green chilli. While making it at home, you can of course play around with your sauce and balance it out as per your liking – that’s the beauty of homemade food where you don’t have to surrender to the restaurants’ “one-gravy-fits-all” practice!
What is Indo-Chinese chilli fish?
As far as I know, Chinese cuisine does not have any dish called “chilli chicken” or “chilli fish” in their menu. This type of “chilli something” dish was customized in India to amalgamate Chinese flavors with Indian taste buds.
And we Indians love this! I had shared my chilli chicken recipe long back which was well-loved by my readers and so I am sure this chilli fish will also win over your heart instantly! The recipe of chilli fish is in the same line of that of chilli chicken with certain tweaks.
Since fish cooks very fast, it doesn’t require a longer marination time. Also the cooking time is much less than that of chicken, so you can serve this within 30 minutes on your dinner table.
To precisely answer the question – what is chilli fish – it is a fish and veggie stir fry dish drizzled with spicy & sweet sauce. Fish cubes are lightly coated with cornflour/conrnstarch & soy sauce and shallow fried to make the outer coating crispy keeping the inside soft & succulent.
I have used skinless Basa fish filet which is not only my favorite choice of fish for this recipe, but also it’s the most easily available fish filet in Indian supermarkets. You can use any boneless & skinless fish filet which is available in your local market; this recipe is a keeper in true sense as it works with any fish!
Ingredients for Indo-chinese chilli fish
You will need the typical ingredients that you usually need to make any Indo-Chinese dish. But let’s start with the primary one!
Fish filet: Any meaty boneless fish filet will work in this recipe. I used basa fish filet which has a very succulent texture and soaks up the sauce really well.
Egg white: Instead of using whole eggs, I have only used egg white to bind the fish cubes with the marinade.
Cornflour/cornstarch: The must-have ingredient for any Chinese dish. It will give crispiness to your fish cubes and also glossiness to your gravy.
Maida/all-purpose flour: Adding maida in 1:2 ratio with cornflour (i.e. half the quantity of cornflour) will balance the crispiness by adding softness to the fish cubes.
Aromatics: Chop lots of garlic as without this flavorful (and my favorite too!) aromatice, Chinese dishes are incomplete! You will also need the greens of spring/green onion to garnish your chilli fish at the end.
Chilli powder: A dash of chilli powder will add the extra kick to your homemade chilli fish recipe and give it your own signature style.
Sauces: Red chilli sauce is the primary sauce in making your chilli fish from ordinary to mind blowing. So do not skip it! You may, of course, balance it as per your liking. You will also need some tomato ketchup to add a bit of sweetness & tartness.
Seasoning/Soy sauce: In any Chinese dish, the primary seasoning ingredient is soy sauce and the same is the case here. While adding soy sauce, add any extra salt sparingly so that you don’t over-season your dish even by mistake.
White vinegar: Vinegar rounds up all the saltiness, sweetness and spiciness with its tartful kick.
Green chilli: Since this dish is called chilli fish, green chillies are usually added generously. But you can surely skip this if you are not too much into spicy food or if you are making it for kids.
Veggies: For veggies, you can use all your imaginations. To make mine colorful, I used red onions, which are cut into chunks and then the petals are separated, and a mix of colored bell peppers.
How to make Indo-Chinese chilli fish?
This chilli fish is quite an instant recipe which comes around under 45 minutes or so.
Step 1: Wash, pat dry and cut the fish filet into bite-sized pieces. Take them in a bowl and add salt, red chilli powder, white vinegar and half of minced garlic. Give a good mix to evenly coat each fish cube. Set it aside for 30 minutes.
Step 2: In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, tomato ketchup, red chilli sauce and white vinegar to make the stir-fry sauce for our chilli fish. Set it aside.
Step 3: After the fish cubes have been marinated for 30 minutes, add egg white, all-purpose flour/maida and corn flour/cornstarch in this order to the marinated fish. Mix everything thoroughly so that each fish cube is uniformly coated with the batter.
Step 4: Heat oil in a wok/kadai for frying the marinated fish cubes. Fry them on medium high heat until they turn golden on both sides. Fish cooks really fast, so do keep an eye on them constantly. This should not take more than 2 minutes per side. Take them out and set aside.
Step 5: Once all the fish cubes are fried, retain just 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok and take out the excess. Add remaining minced garlic, sliced green chillies and onion petals. Stir-fry on high for 2 minutes or until the onion turns slightly translucent.
Step 6: Then add the bell pepper cubes and continue stir-frying on high for 5 minutes. If you like the bell peppers crunchy then don’t fry them for more than 5 minutes; if you like them softer, continue to sauté them for 3 to 4 minutes more.
Step 7: Next add the fried fish cubes and give a quick stir. Now drizzle the prepared stir-fry sauce and continue stirring on medium high heat until each fish cube and the veggies are evenly coated with the sauce on all sides.
Step 8: Finally sprinkle the greens of chopped green onion. You may not need to add extra salt as all the sauces used here are quite salty; but feel free to taste and adjust the salt at this stage if needed. Your restaurant style Indo-Asian chilli fish is ready to devour!
More Indo-Asian recipes from my blog:
- Chinese Stir Fried Tofu *Video Recipe*
- Best Ever Stir Fried Mushroom & Chicken Noodles
- Szechuan Chicken Bites
- Spicy Stir Fry Noodles with Shrimps & Broccoli
- Basa fish filet – 500 gms (you can use any boneless & skinless fish fillet)
- Garlic – 4 cloves, miced
- Salt – ½ tsp
- Red chili powder – ½ tsp
- White vinegar – 1 tsp
- All-purpose flour/maida – 2 tbsp
- Cornflour/cornstarch – 4 tbsp
- Egg – 1, separated, we’ll use only the egg white
- Soy sauce – 2 tsp
- Tomato ketchup – 2 tsp
- Red chilli sauce – 4 tbsp
- White vinegar – 1 tsp
- Garlic – 6 cloves, minced
- Green chilli – 4, sliced
- Onion – 2, medium, cut into large chunks and then each layer separated to get the onion petals
- Red/yellow/green bell pepper/capsicum – 1, large, cut into 1-inch long chunks (you may use mix of 2 types)
- Spring/green onions – 6 stalks, only green parts finely chopped
- Wash, pat dry and cut the fish filet into bite-sized pieces. Take them in a bowl and add salt, red chilli powder, white vinegar and minced garlic. Give a good mix to evenly coat each fish cube. Set it aside for 30 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, tomato ketchup, red chilli sauce and white vinegar to make the stir-fry sauce for our chilli fish. Set it aside.
- After the fish cubes have been marinated for 30 minutes, add all-purpose flour/maida, corn flour/cornstarch and egg white to the marinated fish. Mix everything thoroughly so that each fish cube is uniformly coated with the batter.
- Heat enough oil in a wok/kadai for deep frying. Fry the fish cubes on medium high heat until they turn golden on both sides. Fish cooks really fast, so do keep an eye constantly. This should not take more than 2 minutes per side. Take them out and set aside.
- Once all the fish cubes are fried, retain just 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok and take out the excess. Add minced garlic, sliced green chillies and onion petals. Stir-fry on high for 2 minutes or until the onion turns slightly translucent.
- Then add the capsicum cubes and continue stir-frying on high for 5 minutes. If you like the bell peppers crunchy then don’t fry them for more than 5 minutes; if you like them softer, continue to sauté them for 3 to 4 minutes more.
- Next add the fried fish cubes and give a quick stir. Now drizzle the prepared stir-fry sauce and continue stirring on medium high heat until each fish cube and the veggies are evenly coated with the sauce on all sides.
- Finally sprinkle the greens of chopped spring onion. You may not need to add extra salt as all the sauces used here are quite salty; but feel free to taste and adjust the salt at this stage if needed.
- Your restaurant style Indo-Asian chilli fish is ready to devour! Serve it with rice and lemon wedges! Enjoy!
** This chilli fish recipe of mine was first published in my Indian food blog www.everydayindianrecipes.com a few years back. But due to technical issues, we had to close down that blog and hence I am republishing it here (with additional tips) as it was well-loved by my readers!
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