I don’t know why I find the name Boiled Fish so unusual. It’s not like there aren’t other restaurants that highlight cooking methods in their names. Kentucky Fried Chicken comes to mind. There are any number of smokehouse places and maybe a few with flambé in their name.
But boiled seems so mundane. And the food at Boiled Fish, a Chinese restaurant on Turkey Lake Road south of Restaurant Row, is anything but mundane.
Just as misnomered is the restaurant’s signature dish of sauerkraut fish. If you’re unfamiliar with this delicacy you probably have an image of German style fermented cabbage with a fillet of fish plopped on top. This is so not that.
Sauerkraut fish is a soup specialty of the Chongqing region, though its origins go back only a few decades. Any confusion in the name is translational. The Chinese word that is translated to sauerkraut in English is more closely interpreted as sour or salty vegetable. It could be Napa cabbage or mustard greens, slightly pickled. But even that doesn’t begin to describe the signature dish at Boiled Fish.
And don’t imagine something like Korean kimchi. Not even close, though you’ll probably spot some chopped bok choy in your soup here.
There are several varieties of sauerkraut fish at Boiled Fish, and a staff member will be happy to walk you through the various flavors and heat levels. There’s tomato, butter garlic, green pepper, lemon flavored and a few others. After a discussion with the young woman who took my order after quizzing me on my tolerance to spiciness, I chose the golden soup.
Good choice. It was a very large portion for $16.95 (really enough for two people) of vegetables, peppery spices and firm bite-sized pieces of fish (white-fleshed swai, in this case). The dish is made by first marinating the fish in ginger, spring onions, cooking wine and other spices. The sauerkraut or pickled veggies are first cooked in oil before chicken stock is added to the wok. The veggies are removed and placed in a serving bowl, and the marinated fish goes into the bubbling stock, hence boiled fish. Fish and stock are poured over the vegetables to which various peppers are added, including Sichuan. As a finishing touch, oil is heated in the hot wok and then poured over the top of the bowl.
Despite that, the soup was surprisingly unoily. The fish bits were firm and flavorful from the marinade, and the spicy heat was high but not as hot as, um, boiling. (When she served my soup the young woman said, “Don’t eat the red peppers on top,” which were difficult to avoid.)
You may have white rice or rice noodles to enjoy with your soup. I chose rice.
I also had an appetizer of crispy tofu. Or at least I had meant for them to be an appetizer, but they arrived after the soup, so they were a bit unneeded at that point. (I enjoyed the firm and unami laden cubes later.)
The dining room is small and barebones. It was a nice touch that food was served on Melamine plates instead of paper or foam. And when I requested a glass of water I was brought a full iced pitcher.
Diners are meant to order using a QR code at the table. I had started the process on my phone when the young woman approached my table with a tablet and offered to take my order. When I told her that I had already started, she said she knew and that she had my crispy tofu already. I appreciated the personal touch rather than having to deal with the app.
And when I had had all I could eat, she gladly brought takeout containers for my leftovers. So a pleasant lunch stretched through dinner.
Boiled Fish is at 8910 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando (map). It is open for lunch and dinner daily. The phone number is 407-866-0116.
