Chinese Sweet and Sour Fish
Sweet and Sour Fish is a very popular dish in China. This is a recipe for sweet and sour fish done Chinese style, with fish fillets. Try this easy recipe for a colorful, tangy-sweet Sweet and Sour Fish and bring your plain fried fish to the next level of goodness.
Ingredients:
For the fish:
12 ounces cod fillet or any white fish fillet, rinsed clean, pat dry and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 cups canola oil, for frying
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon water
For the Sweet and Sour sauce:
1 green cucumber or 1 green bell peppers cut into a 1-inch dice
1 tablespoon ketchup
3/4 cup canned pineapple chunks
¾ cup pineapple juice from the can
2 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
⅓ cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
Cornstarch slurry (1½ tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water)
Direction:
Step 1: Make sure your fish fillet is clean and pat dry to ensure your fried fish gets really crispy. Heat 3 cups of oil in a small pot to medium not too hot. To make the batter, mix together all the dry ingredients––the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt and white pepper. When you’re ready to fry, mix in the oil and cold water until the batter is smooth. Next, drop the fish fillets into the batter.
Carefully place the fish into the oil one piece at a time, ensuring that they don’t stick to each other. Fry in batches so that the fish pieces aren’t overcrowded, frying for 3 minutes or until light golden .
Step 2: Next, put two teaspoons of the frying oil in a separate wok or skillet over high heat, and add all the ingredients for the sauce except the cucumber or green bell pepper. And bring the liquid to a low simmer for 2 minutes. With the sweet and sour sauce still simmering, slowly stir in the cornstarch slurry until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Add fish and cucumber or green bell pepper into the wok, and fold into the sauce with 3 or 4 scooping motions until the pieces are lightly coated. Plate and serve immediately!
