Crispy Mandarin Fish
Golden-yellow with reddish highlights, the mandarin fish is battered and deep-fried until crispy, served with a sweet-and-sour tomato sauce for dipping.
Ingredients
Mandarin fish (about 1000g, scaled and gutted, with crescent-shaped cuts on both sides of the back)
1
Dry water chestnut starch (outer coating on fish)
75 g
Wet water chestnut starch (first coating on fish)
20 g
Tomato sauce (for sauce)
60 g
Chopped scallions (for sauce)
to taste
Ginger (for sauce)
to taste
White pepper (for coating fish)
to taste
Shaoxing wine (for coating fish)
to taste
Fine salt (for coating fish and sauce)
to taste
MSG (for sauce)
to taste
Sugar (for sauce)
to taste
Aromatic vinegar (for sauce)
to taste
Lard (for frying fish and sauce)
to taste
Instructions
1
Step 1
Scale and gut the mandarin fish, wash it clean, and make crescent-shaped cuts on both sides of the back. Coat the fish with pepper, salt, and wine, then apply wet water chestnut starch, followed by dry water chestnut starch. Deep-fry in hot lard over high heat for about ten-plus minutes until cooked through, then remove from the pot.
2
Step 2
Separately stir-fry scallions, ginger, tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar, MSG, oil, and salt in hot oil until ready, transfer to a small bowl, and serve alongside the fish.
