Show-Stopping Sichuan

On a recent visit to Gourmet Dumpling House, ScotchandSirloin was astounded by the Sichuan-style sliced fish. "I have never had a dish in Boston that was such a revelation," says ScotchandSirloin. "There was more flavor and more spice than any other dish I can recall ever having. It was spicy to the core, but never too spicy to enjoy."

The dish that ScotchandSirloin enjoyed goes by many translations in English, and consists of flaky pieces of white-fleshed fish (such as flounder or Pacific sole) cooked with cabbage in a spicy, chile-laden broth. The dish is widely available at Sichuan and Taiwanese restaurants in the Boston area, and hounds have several suggestions for where to find it.

digga recently tried the version at Thailand Cafe in Cambridge. While she enjoyed it, she did not think it lived up to the version at nearby Mulan. "We wished that the chile spice was better distributed throughout the dish and that there was more of it. But we loved the cabbage—crisp and a nice textural foil to the fish."

9lives suggests trying New Shanghai in Chinatown for both the fish and beef versions of the dish. He also likes the renditions at FuLoon in Malden and Sichuan Garden in Brookline Village. For hounds outside of Boston, check out one of the branches of Sichuan Gourmet—all four locations (in Brookline, Billerica, Framingham, and Sharon) list the dish in the fish section, though the English translation may not always be consistent.

Gourmet Dumpling House [Chinatown]
52 Beach Street, Boston
617-338-6223

Thailand Cafe [Kendall Square]
302 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
617-492-2494

Mulan [Cambridge]
228 Broadway, Cambridge
617-441-8813

New Shanghai Restaurant [Chinatown]
21 Hudson Street, Boston
617-338-6688

FuLoon [North Shore]
375 Main Street, Malden
781-388-3338

Sichuan Garden [Brookline]
295 Washington Street, Brookline
617-734-1870

Sichuan Gourmet [Brookline]
1004 Beacon Street, Brookline
617-277-4226

Sichuan Gourmet [Merrimack Valley] 
502 Boston Road, Billerica
978-670-7339

Sichuan Gourmet II [MetroWest]
271 Worcester Road, Framingham
508-626-0248

Sichuan Gourmet [MetroWest]
388 S. Main Street, Sharon
781-784-6698

Discuss: Sliced Fish Szechuan Style - Gourmet Dumpling House
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