Sweet & Sour Fish

Sweet and sour fish

One of the most typical Chinese dishes, especially in western countries, is sweet and sour pork (gu lao rou) which becomes sweet and sour fish when the pork is replaced with fish. Gourmets of Chinese food know that if the waitor recommends sweet and sour fish, especially fish slices and not whole fish, the fish is likely to be frozen or not fresh enough for steaming because for the Chinese, fresh fish is live fish. Smothered with sweet and sour sauce,  frozen or fish that's not so fresh can be disguised because the taste is diverted to the sauce. If your hosts order steamed fish, you know that the fish is very fresh because only fresh fish can stand up to light steaming with minimal ingredients. That said, sweet and sour dishes are very popular, usually with kids and those with less discerning taste buds. I do enjoy sweet and sour fish once in a while because we eat steamed fish at least once a week and it gets boring.

The fish I ate in Shanghai

This sweet and sour fish is based on a beautiful (in sight and taste) dish I ate in Shanghai last year. I couldn't get the flesh of the fish as elegantly opened like a coral or flower because I wasn't sure if the flesh'll fall apart if I cut it too finely. It was fun though to cook this dish. Put on an 'antique' ceramic plate from my mom, the fish looked restaurant-worthy. It was delicious too except that I was a little bit disappointed that the salt-water fish didn't have that special flavor found only in those fresh-water fishes of China. Again, in my opinion, sweet and sour fish is more about the fried flavor and the sauce. All-in, still, a delicious and showy dish that is good for festive occasions. 

Sweet & Sour Fish
1 whole fish, about 1 kg
salt & white pepper
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 cup cornflour
oil for frying

The Sauce:
1 T white vinegar*
4 T tomato ketchup
3/4 cup diluted chicken stock
2 t sugar, or to taste
1/2 t salt
2 t Worchestershire sauce
2 t cornstarch
--mix above ingredients well and season to taste
1 cup of green peas or diced cucumber, pineapple, cherries, chilies etc for color
1 T toasted pinenuts

* if using canned pineapple, I substitute the water with the water from the can and decrease the sugar to 1 teaspoon.

1. Clean and scale the fish. Wipe  dry with paper towels. Remove the fillets (keep the skin on) and feel for the bones with your hands and remove them. Season the fillets and fish skeleton lightly with salt and pepper and massage them with beaten egg white . Turn the fillets flesh-side up and cut diagonal lines 3/4 cm apart deep into the flesh and to the skin but don't cut through. Cut diagonal lines in the opposite direction to make a diamond pattern. Cut the fillets into 4 x 6 cm slices and thoroughly coat the flesh, opening it up and getting all the cut sides. Coat the fish's skeleton and head with cornflour.

2. Heat about 5 cups of oil for deep-frying. When oil begins to smoke, fry the fish's skeleton until golden and arrange on an oval plate. Now fry the fillets in 2 or 3 batches until crispy and golden. For prettier results, open up the flesh neatly so that they spread out. Arrange the fried fillet pieces around the skeleton.

3. Pour all the oil away and add the sauce ingredients and the veggies to the wok or frying pan. For a more classy looking dish, omit the veggies and use pinenuts to garnish. Cook over medium heat until thickened but not too thick. Add some water if it gets too thick. If you want a shiny sheen, add a tablespoon of the oil from frying the fish to the sauce and stir well. Season to taste if necessary. Pour the sauce over the fish and sprinkle pinenuts all over.