Smoked-Fish Sauce

Name: Smoked-Fish Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: about 3¾ cups (900 ml)
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: about ¼ cup (65 ml) Vegetable Oil; scallion (in oil) Scallion; ginger (in oil) Ginger; about 5 stars (5 g) Star Anise; about 25 leaves (5 g) Bay Leaf; about 2 tsp (5 g) Cinnamon; 5 g Cardamom; ¼ cup (60 ml) Shaoxing; 3¼ cups (750 ml) Chicken Stock; ⅓ cup (78 ml) Light Soy; 150 g Rock Sugar; about 1½ Tbsp (25 ml) Dark Soy; about 1 tsp (3 g) White Pepper

Independent adaptation of a publicly published Hu Zhuyong recipe. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Hu Zhuyong.

MARINADE · FRIED FISH (SHANGHAI SMOKED-FISH STYLE)

In the published recipe, this is the marinade for Shanghai smoked fish.

Hu Zhuyong's soy-spice soak for smoked fish.

On the jar

SMOKED-FISH

Method: simmer
Yield: about 3¾ cups
Ingredients: 13
Jar batch: 0.25× recipe

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Ratio

CHICKEN STOCK 750 mlLIGHT SOY 78 mlVEGETABLE OIL 65 mlSHAOXING 60 ml

Ingredients

Vegetable Oilabout ¼ cup (65 ml)
Scallionscallion (in oil)
Gingerginger (in oil)
Star Aniseabout 5 stars (5 g)
Bay Leafabout 25 leaves (5 g)
Cinnamonabout 2 tsp (5 g)
Cardamom5 g
Shaoxing¼ cup (60 ml)
Chicken Stock3¼ cups (750 ml)
Light Soy⅓ cup (78 ml)
Rock Sugar150 g
Dark Soyabout 1½ Tbsp (25 ml)
White Pepperabout 1 tsp (3 g)

Method

Pour to the lines in order (bottom → top): CHICKEN STOCK, LIGHT SOY, VEGETABLE OIL, SHAOXING.
Shake-to-line (dashed marks): add ROCK SUGAR. Spoon in, shake, and top up until the settled level reaches each dashed line.
Season to finish: SCALLION (to taste), GINGER (to taste), STAR ANISE (1 star), BAY LEAF (6 leaves), CINNAMON (about ½ tsp), CARDAMOM (about ½ tsp).
Cap the jar and shake until combined.
Pour into a cold pan and bring to a gentle simmer. The jar stays off the stove. Cool leftovers briefly before they go back in the glass, then refrigerate promptly.

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4 kitchens · 3 stars · 1 national award

Smoked-Fish Sauce★ STARRED KITCHENOn the jar: SMOKED-FISH
Soy-Duck Braise Sauce★ STARRED KITCHENOn the jar: SOY-DUCK
Soy Sauce Dark Braising★ STARRED KITCHENOn the jar: BRAISED
Soy SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: COLA-SOY

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Provenance

Hu Zhuyong (胡助勇). Shanghai / Jiangnan. Cited awards include: Michelin 1* (Mi Shanghai / 迷·上海, Shanghai — multi-year).

Originally published as Smoked-Fish Sauce (熏鱼酱汁).

Adapted from a Hu Zhuyong (胡助勇) recipe (Hu Zhuyong / Mi Shanghai (The Paper 淘最厨房)).

FAQ

Can this go in a shake jar?

Yes, with one pan. Its liquids pour to the printed fill-lines and shake cold; the mix then goes into a pan to simmer. The jar itself never touches heat.

What do the quantities mean?

This page lists the published recipe in household units (with metric in parentheses). A PantryFlex jar makes a 0.25× batch of it. The jar's printed lines, counts, and QR guide are already scaled to match, so follow the jar or this page, not a mix of both. Amounts in the jar’s ADD row are rounded to the nearest common spoon measure (T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon) so they can be read off the glass.

Where did this recipe come from?

Adapted from Hu Zhuyong / Mi Shanghai (The Paper 淘最厨房) (published as “Smoked-Fish Sauce (熏鱼酱汁)”). Full citation lives in Provenance.

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