Click-through: An Epic Culinary Quest, in Comic Form

A bit of a long-scroll, but we highly recommend a comic just published by foodie website Eater: “In Search of Water-Boiled Fish.”

The epic animation details the quest of Burbank-based illustrator, animator and game developer Angie Wang to recapture the singular vibe of eating an authentic bowl of shui zhu yu, (水煮鱼), a classic Sichuanese dish in which sheets of poached fish swim in a broth of chilis and numbing Sichuan peppercorn (花椒 huajiao).

Eight years have passed between Wang’s 2010 shui zhu yu experience in Beijing and her ultimate rediscovery of a “close enough” version nearer to home at LA restaurant Chengdu Taste. Along the way she detours to other classic China snacks — youtiao (油条 ), the deep-fried dough sticks served up with soy milk for breakfast;  shengjian bao (生煎包), a crispy-bottomed bread dumpling common in Shanghai and Suzhou — but the one that sticks with her and drives her delightful narrative is shui zhu yu, a staple that has Wang waxing poetic:

Slices of fish — white as snow, soft as custard — float in a light, clear oil… I can see all the way to the bottom of the bowl, to the bed of bean sprouts underneath.

Dive in here.

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Cover image: Eater

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