Chinese Fish Paste Stuffed Peppers 煎讓三寶 is a popular Southern Chinese street food made with the fresh fish paste using dace fish meat or shrimp paste. Aside from stuffing dace fish paste in red or green peppers, most Hong Kong-style dim sum restaurants will also include varieties of stuffed tofu and eggplants. This family favourite is called Three Fried Stuffed Treasures Chinese and is served with black bean sauce.
In This Post: Everything You'll Need For Making Fish Paste Stuffed Peppers
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Ingredients and Substitutes
This family favourite can be a shortcut at home using store-bought premade fish paste.
Fresh Fish Paste - choose from either premade dace fish paste from your local Asian grocery stores or make your own homemade dace fish paste using fresh dace fish.
Of course, homemade dace fish paste 鯪魚滑 (魚漿) can easily be made using fresh white fish, dried tangerine peels, some fresh cilantro, and finely chopped green onions.
What is Dace? Dace 鯪魚 is a freshwater fish known as mud carp native to Southern China. It has tender white flesh and is chock full of tiny thin bones.
You can easily make Fried Dace Fish Patties if there are any leftover fish paste. We love that fragrant golden goodness!
- Cut up the fried dace fish cakes and turn them into delicious stir fry with bitter melon! I think my mouth just watered thinking about it these excellent side dishes.
- Alternatively, you can also use fresh raw shrimp paste. Some Chinese stuffed peppers recipes also call for fattier ground pork paste.
Fresh Green Bell Peppers - It doesn't have to be green peppers. Feel free to use either red peppers, yellow peppers or orange peppers. A personal preference I like to use different colours because it is vibrant looking!
- Long horn peppers, jalapeno peppers, eggplants and fried tofu puffs are also excellent choices!
Corn Starch - Use for binding fish paste and vegetables.
Cold Water - Used for binding fish paste and vegetables and cooking.
Vegetable Oil - neutral-tasting cooking oil for pan frying the Chinese
Green Onions - Finely chopped green onions can be used as a garnish or added when pan-frying the stuffed peppers to elevate the flavour.
If you love green onions like I do, you will love this Korean Green Scallion Salad!
Homemade Dace Fish Paste
- Dace Fish or White Fish
- Dried Tangerine Peel 陳皮
- Ground White Pepper Powder
- Sesame Oil
- Shaoxing Cooking Wine
- Fresh Cilantro
- Fresh Spring Onion
- Sugar to Taste
- Salt to Taste
- Chicken Stock Powder (optional to add extra flavor)
How To Cook Chinese Fish Paste Stuffed Peppers
Wash green peppers and pat dry with a kitchen paper towel.
Cut off the stems, segment the green peppers and remove the seeds from insides of the peppers with a sharp knife.
Depending on the size of the peppers you are using, you cut them lengthwise in half instead.
Set aside.
You may want to shortcut with store-bought fish paste if it is a busy weeknight. Skip ahead to "How To Assembly Chinese Stuffed Peppers"
Sometimes it is worth the extra effort to make your own homemade fish paste. I like knowing exactly what goes into my fish paste.
Use a cleaver or heavy knife to finely mince and hand chop fresh dace fish meat on a heavy duty cutting board.
Alternatively, if you do not want to pound fish paste by hand, you can also use a good-quality food processor. Here are my picks for the Best Food Processor!
Do not worry about the tiny bones. They will disappear into the sticky paste mixture after being pulverized.
Add fish meat mixture to a large mixing bowl.
Then fold in until combined with finely chopped green onions, sesame oil, cornstarch, Shaoxing wine, dried tangerine peel diced, and ground white pepper powder, sugar and salt to taste.
How To Assembly Chinese Stuffed Peppers
Stuff and cover each pepper segment with the fish paste. Clean up the edges of the peppers.
Ensure that each piece of stuffed pepper has about the same amount of filling. This ensures even cooking time and better presentation.
Add vegetable oil to a wok or large non-stick pan over medium high heat.
Add the stuffed peppers with the fish paste side facing down and cook until they are golden brown. Approximately 2-3 minutes.
Turn the peppers over to sear the bottoms for a further minute. Reduce heat to medium heat if they are browning too quickly.
Transfer to a serving plate. Set aside.
Serve and enjoy hot alone or with Sweet Chili Soy Dipping Sauce 辣椒豉油熟油 or black bean sauce made with fermented black beans, garlic, Shaoxing cooking wine and oil.
What To Serve With Dim Sum Style Chinese Stuffed Peppers
Golden brown pan-fried dim sum is addictive and a crowd pleaser. It is a beautiful simple home-cooked side dish in Asian cuisine we often make and a great way to add some extra vegetable servings to our diet. Best of all, the kids love it!
- Chinese Braised Eggplant 紅燒茄子
- Air Fryer BBQ Pork Char Siu 氣炸鍋蜜汁叉燒
- Chinese Salt and Pepper Squid (Air Fryer) 氣炸鍋椒鹽魷魚
- Chinese Tomato Egg Stir-fry 番茄炒蛋
- Chinese Mango Pudding 香港芒果布甸
I guarantee that this will become one of your favourite dim sum recipes! Make this auspicious Three Fried Stuffed Treasures during Chinese New Year too!
I'd love to see how your masterpiece went with this Three Stuffed Treasures recipe! Leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram @INSTANOMSS #INSTANOMSS.
> Recipe
PrintChinese Fish Paste Stuffed Peppers (Easy) 煎讓三寶
Chinese Fish Paste Stuffed Peppers 煎讓三寶 is a popular Southern Chinese street food made with the fresh fish paste using dace fish meat or shrimp paste. Aside from stuffing dace fish paste in red or green peppers, most Hong Kong-style dim sum restaurants will also include varieties of stuffed tofu and eggplants. This family favourite is called Three Fried Stuffed Treasures Chinese and is served with black bean sauce.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 5
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 persons 1x
- Category: Appetizers, Snacks
- Method: Pan Fry
- Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients
- 3 Green Peppers, segmented and seeds removed
- 500g Fresh Dace Fish Paste 鯪魚滑 or Homemade Dace Fish Paste
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch
- A handful of Fresh Cilantro
- A Handful of Finely Chopped Spring Onion
Homemade Dace Fish Paste
- 1 lb Fresh Dace, sliced 鯪魚
- 1 Dried Tangerine Peel 陳皮, finely chopped
- A handful of Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
- 2 Stalks of Finely Chopped Spring Onion
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Chicken Powder
- ½ tsp Sugar
- ¼ tsp Ground White Pepper Powder
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch
Instructions
- Wash green peppers and pat dry with a kitchen paper towel.
- Cut off the stems, segment the green peppers and remove the seeds from insides of the peppers with a sharp knife.
- Depending on the size of the peppers you are using, you cut them lengthwise in half instead. Set aside.
- You may want to shortcut with store-bought fish paste if it is a busy weeknight. Skip ahead to "How To Assembly Chinese Stuffed Peppers"
- Sometimes it is worth the extra effort to make your own homemade fish paste. I like knowing exactly what goes into my fish paste.
- Use a cleaver or heavy knife to finely mince and hand chop fresh dace fish meat on a heavy duty cutting board.
- Alternatively, if you do not want to pound fish paste by hand, you can also use a good-quality food processor. Here are my picks for the Best Food Processor!
- Do not worry about the tiny bones. They will disappear into the sticky paste mixture after being pulverized.
- Add fish meat mixture to a large mixing bowl.
- Then fold in until combined with finely chopped green onions, sesame oil, cornstarch, Shaoxing wine, dried tangerine peel diced, and ground white pepper powder, sugar and salt to taste.
How To Assembly Chinese Stuffed Peppers
- Stuff and cover each pepper segment with the fish paste. Clean up the edges of the peppers.
- Ensure that each piece of stuffed pepper has about the same amount of filling. This ensures even cooking time and better presentation.
- Add vegetable oil to a wok or large non-stick pan over medium high heat.
- Add the stuffed peppers with the fish paste side facing down and cook until they are golden brown. Approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Turn the peppers over to sear the bottoms for a further minute. Reduce heat to medium heat if they are browning too quickly.
- Transfer to a serving plate. Set aside.
- Serve and enjoy hot alone or with Sweet Chili Soy Dipping Sauce 辣椒豉油熟油 or homemade black bean sauce made with fermented black beans, garlic, Shaoxing cooking wine and oil.
Notes
- Consider a good-quality food processor if you do not want to pound fish paste by hand! Here are my picks for the Best Food Processor!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 plate
- Calories: 194
- Sugar: 3.5 g
- Sodium: 155.3 mg
- Fat: 7.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 9.8 g
- Fiber: 3.3 g
- Protein: 23.9 g
- Cholesterol: 57.5 mg
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Nes says
These are so tasty! One of my favorite dim sum recipes.
Nancy says
Thanks Nes - now you can bring the dim sum home to you!
Beth says
These are so good. I love stuffed peppers, and when I found this recipe, I thought it looked super interesting. I'm so glad I tried it because it's so good!
Nancy says
Thanks Beth - It's a homey classic dish often served at dim sum restaurants. But we love that kids and seniors all love it!
Kathleen says
What wonderful flavors in these stuffed peppers. I've never had them before and like the idea that you can also stuff eggplant. I am looking forward to trying this recipe.
Nancy says
It's a great way to eat more veggies too! It's a flavourful and addicting dish!
Shelby says
Yum! Love this version of stuffed peppers with classic Chinese flavors!
Nancy says
I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed this Stuffed Pepper dish with a Chinese twist!
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
I’ve never used fish paste so I was a little hesitant, but these are amazing! My family enjoyed them too.
Nancy says
I'm so glad you tried Helen! This is no joke one of my favourite childhood dishes!
Nora says
What a great idea to fill the bell pepper with fish instead of minced meat! Very tasty!
Nancy says
very tasty. very easy! 100%
Kayla DiMaggio says
Loved this recipe! It was easy and delicious and the whole family asked for more!
Nancy says
It's such a family favourite of ours too!
Bernice says
This is one of my favourite dishes when we go to dim sum! The restaurant here uses only green peppers but I think your colour variety is so pretty. I like that you add other fish too...though I really do like the ones filled with shrimp paste. I think they glaze them with the black bean paste then roast them because they don't get browned on the top like yours. It would be a lot of work to do that many in a wok!
Nancy says
Thanks Bernice! So glad you love this classic dish! Now you can have it any time at home!
Kristen says
I love dim sum! So many great recipes that I probably wouldn't try at home - but you make it so easy! Thanks for sharing another awesome recipe.
Nancy says
Enjoy it !
Lily says
So good and so crispy! I used store-bought fish paste. Thanks for the recipe!
Nancy says
Enjoy this easy side dish!
Addie says
So hearty and flavorful!
Nancy says
enjoy this easy and wholesome homey recipe!
David Lui says
This is a great idea for Chinese fish paste
Nancy says
enjoy this easy and delicious dim sum recipe!
Swathi says
This fish paste stuffed peppers looks delicious I love to try it.
Nancy says
is this what you normally order at dim sum restaurants?
Helen at the lazy gastronome says
Delicious dish. Easy to make and so full of flavor. Will make again.
Nancy says
enjoy this easy and delicious chinese restaurant recipe!
Alexandra says
I made these for my mother for dinner last night and they were incredible - so flavoursome and simple to put together. Will make again!
Nancy says
Wow you're such a good daughter! I bet your mom loved it
Maretha says
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it. Yummy!
Nancy says
happy snacking!
Maretha says
Wow this looks incredible! This looks easy and so flavour packed. My family will love this. Thanks for the introduction to this and the clear instructions
Nancy says
happy snacking!
Andréa Janssen says
Looks like a delicious recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Nancy says
you are so welcome Andrea
Mary says
Checking my neighborhood Asian Market for fish paste this weekend then I am giving these a try. We love dim sum and dumplings.
Nancy says
Yummy!!
Shilpa says
This looks interesting. Will try it soon!
Nancy says
enjoy this classic chinese dim sum recipe
Dana says
Delicious! I love stuffed peppers and these do not disappoint.
Nancy says
I bet you are both addicted to it now!
Cara says
These were so delicious - totally worth it to make the fish paste from scratch! Loved it!
Nancy says
totally!! I always recommend home made fish paste if you have the time!
Mirlene says
This was a great idea! I loved the fish paste thats stuffed into the peppers. Its a great combo put together.
Nancy says
happy snacking!
Jess says
I love peppers so I am excited to try these!
Nancy says
green peppers and fish paste is such a great pair!
Natalie says
This looks amazing Nancy. I never tried fish stuffed peppers before, can`t wait! Hope mine will turn out as beautiful as yours.
Nancy says
omg Natalie! you need to make this stat! You won't be disappointed!
Keri says
I love how authentic all your Chinese recipes are? This one was fantastic!
Nancy says
Aww thanks so much for your support Keri! I appreciate you!
Emily Flint says
I love stuffed peppers and was so excited to give this version a try! Such a unique combination of flavor, we loved them!
Nancy says
Thanks so much Emily! you're the best! Please share with all your friends and family this recipe! I'm sure they will love it too!
Wendy says
This recipe is such a unique way to make stuffed peppers. I can't wait to try it.
Nancy says
Enjoy this easy authentic chinese recipe!
Jamie says
I used store-bought fish paste which made these really easy to put together. Next time I'll try with a homemade version. They came out so good!
Nancy says
THanks Jamie! you're the best! Please share with all your friends and family this recipe! I'm sure they will love it too!
Jamie says
These are so delicious and flavorful with the fish paste filling! My family loved these for dinner!
Nancy says
That's so awesome hearing this! I'm so happy that they all enjoyed it!
Andrea says
What unique and intriguing flavors in these stuffed peppers. Definitely going to try these.
Nancy says
Yes please and let me know how it turns out!
Erin | The Epicurean Traveler says
I love going out to eat dim sum! Chinese fish paste stuffed peppers sound delicious, and your recipe seems easy to recreate that Chinese street food experience at home. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Nancy says
I love dim sum too!! it's such a big part of my childhood and adult life actually! I'm so glad I could bring this to your home!
kushigalu says
I learn lot of new recipes and flavor combos in your posts. This looks so delicious too. Thanks for sharing.
Nancy says
Awesome! I'm so glad you are a fan of this easy dim sum recipe!
Janessa says
This recipe looks simple and straight forward- I'm looking forward to trying to make them at home!
Nancy says
Absolutely! It's super straightforward and you can choose to make everything from scratch at home or shortcut with premade fish paste!