Sweet and Sour Fish Recipe

Sweet and sour fish fillets Chinese recipe


Chinese sweet sour fish recipeThis recipe came to me as I was driving home from fishing. I’d caught some nice Pacific rockfish with my friend RJ out of Emeryville on the and was stuck in traffic, giving me some time to think. What would I do with these fish? It was hot at the time and I wanted something that would come together quickly so I wouldn’t heat up the kitchen.

Chinese stir fries sprung to mind. What about sweet and sour, like what I do with whole rockfish or carp? While I love that dish, you do it with whole fish, and I wanted something with fillets; I’d caught some big black rockfish, large enough to fillet easily. Why not just do the same dish with chunks of boneless meat? Yessss…

So this recipe is a mashup of the whole fish recipe and my recipe for General Tso’s pheasant, which is, more or less, crack. It hinges on a Chinese technique called “velveting, ” a pre-frying trick that sets a thin batter onto meat that keeps it tender; it’s why the meat in a Chinese restaurant tastes different from when you do a stir-fry at home. Normally velveting is a “cool” pre-fry at about 275°F — here we’re actually frying at a full 350°F. The effect is more like the meat in orange chicken or General Tso’s.

sweet and sour fishThis dish comes together really fast, so make sure you have everything all set before you begin. I make the rice first and let it sit while I am making the stir-fry. All told, this is one of my rare 30-minute meals.

And it’s good. Really good. Smack yo mama in the face good. Shut-up-I’m-eating good. Make this recipe, I tell you. Make it tonight.

Chinese Sweet and Sour Fish

I used Pacific rock cod with this recipe, but you could use any relatively firm, white fish. I’d suggest anything from walleye to striped bass to redfish to grouper, snapper, black seabass, catfish, smallmouth bass, halibut — hell, even carp would be good with this if you chunk it and remove any bones.

The doesn’t keep, so you pretty much need to eat it when it’s ready. Also, this is one of those few Chinese wok dishes that you can double; most stir-fries need to be done in batches or they won’t cook right. So that makes this recipe a great one for a crowd.

Serves 4.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes, including velveting time

MARINADE

  • 4 tablespoons potato starch or corn starch
  • 2 to 3 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 3 cups peanut or vegetable oil for frying

SAUCE

  • 1/2 cup chicken or fish stock, or clam juice
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (or more if you want it sweet)
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar or malt vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste mixed with 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon potato or corn starch

STIR-FRY

  • 1 1/2 pounds skinless fish, cut into into bite-sized pieces
  • 3 tablespoons peanut oil, lard or vegetable oil
  • 8 dried hot chiles, broken in half and seeds shaken out (use less if you don’t want it spicy)
  • A 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
  • 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
  • 3 tablespoons chopped chives
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil

____________

  1. Mix the ingredients for the marinade together (except for the oil) and then mix in the chunks of fish. Make sure they are all well coated, and set it aside while you chop everything else. Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce and set it aside.
  2. Heat the 3 cups of oil in a wok or deep frying pan until it’s about 350°F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you’ll know the oil is hot enough when a bit of flour flicked into it sizzles instantly. Get a baking sheet or tray handy and line it with paper towels. Fry the fish in two or three batches, separating the pieces of fish the moment they hit the hot oil. Cook until they turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove and let them drain on the paper towels.
  3. When the fish is done, carefully pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the oil. Add the chiles, ginger and garlic and stir-fry over high heat for 30 seconds. Add the fish and stir fry for a few seconds, then pour over the sauce ingredients — be sure to stir the sauce before you pour it in because the starch will tend to settle to the bottom. Let this boil furiously for 1 minute, then turn off the heat.


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