Deep Fried Fish with Sweet-Sour Sauce
Serves 4.
Ingredients
500 g/1 lb firm white fish fillets
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 egg white, very slightly beaten
oil for frying
cornflour (cornstarch) for dusting
Sauce
1 fresh red chilli
1 fresh green chilli
125 ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup canned Chinese pickles
125 ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup pickle juice from can
125 ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)
Directions
Remove all skin and bone from fish and cut into short finger lengths. Sprinkle with salt and rub with fresh ginger. Coat fish with egg white. Let stand while making sauce.
Heat about a cup of oil in a wok. Toss pieces of fish in cornflour a few times, until lightly but completely coated. Fry a few pieces at a time over medium heat for a few minutes, until just done. Do not overcook the fish. Drain on paper towels, pour sauce over and serve immediately with rice.
Sauce: Seed and finely slice chillies, shred pickles into fine strips. Heat pickle juice, water, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and when boiling stir in cornflour mixed with cold water and stir until thickened and clear. Stir in pickles and chillies.
Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)