Hot Pot with Yellow Catfish in Red Broth

Hot Pot with Yellow Catfish in Red Broth

　　【Cuisine】 Sichuan Cuisine

　　【Main Ingredient】 Fish

　　【Cooking Method】 Braised

　　【Flavor】 Spicy & Numbing

　　【Dish Type】 Hot Pot

　　【Ingredients】 500g yellow catfish (scientific name: Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, also known as yellowhead catfish or yellow girl), 100g Sichuan pickled mustard greens, 30g Sichuan peppercorn segments, 50g garlic, 50g fresh tomato, 30g celery, 20g scallions.

　　【Base Ingredients】 20g broad bean paste, 10 each of Sichuan peppercorns and black peppercorns, 10g old ginger, 15 peanuts, 10g rock sugar, 5 star anise, 4 bay leaves, 20g scallion oil, 1000g broth, 10g chicken bouillon, 10g salad oil.

　　【Method】

　　1. Clean the yellow catfish by removing gills and internal organs, then rinse thoroughly. Cut the celery into 3cm lengths, then into thin strips. Slice the tomato into 0.2cm-thick pieces. Remove stems from garlic cloves and cut scallions into 5cm lengths.

　　2. Heat scallion oil in a wok over medium heat until 70% hot. Add rock sugar and stir-fry over low heat until reddish-brown. Then add broad bean paste, Sichuan peppercorns, black peppercorns, old ginger, and peanuts. Stir-fry over high heat until fragrant. Pour in broth and chicken bouillon, then simmer over medium heat until the broth turns rich, bright red, and flavorful. Strain and set aside.

　　3. Heat a small amount of salad oil in a wok over medium heat until 50% hot. Stir-fry pickled mustard greens, yellow catfish, and celery over high heat until aromatic. Add the prepared red broth and simmer over low heat for 8 minutes until well flavored. Add Sichuan peppercorn segments, whole garlic cloves, fresh tomatoes, and scallion pieces. Serve hot directly from the wok.

　　【Features】 Bright red color, tender flesh, rich spicy and numbing flavor.

　　【Key to Preparation】 Choose medium-sized yellow catfish; avoid overly large ones.

　　【Introduction to Yellow Catfish】

　　The scientific name of yellow catfish is Pelteobagrus fulvidraco.

　　Pelteobagrus fulvidraco belongs to the order Siluriformes, family Bagridae, genus Pelteobagrus. Common names: yellow catfish, yellow eel. English name: Yellow cartfish.

　　It has an elongated body with a flat belly and slightly compressed posterior. The head is large and flat, with a rounded blunt snout, a large mouth on the underside, and fine velvety teeth on both jaws. The eyes are small. It has four pairs of barbels, with the upper jaw barbels being particularly long in most species. It is scaleless. The dorsal and pectoral fins have developed stiff spines that produce sound when moved. The adipose fin is short. The body is yellowish-green with irregular brown spots in most species; the fins are grayish-black with yellow hues.

　　It usually lives a bottom-dwelling life in still lake waters or slow-moving rivers, especially favoring shallow areas with decaying matter and mud. During the day, it hides at the bottom, but comes up to the upper water layers to feed at night. In winter, it often gathers in deeper parts of tributaries. It adapts well to various environments and can survive even in poor conditions. Yellow catfish are broadly omnivorous; juveniles mainly eat zooplankton and aquatic insect larvae, while adults feed on small fish and invertebrates. They reach sexual maturity at two years old. From May to July each year, male fish swim to muddy clay areas with dense aquatic plants near the shore (depth 8–40 cm), where they use their pectoral fin spines to rotate intermittently in the mud and dig small pits—these are their spawning nests. After building the nest, the male stays to wait for a female, where spawning and fertilization take place inside the nest. Spawning often occurs on rainy nights when the weather shifts from clear. The female leaves the nest after laying eggs to feed, while the male guards the developing eggs and fry nearby until the young can swim freely (after about 7–8 days).