Grape Fish
Score and marinate the black carp meat, deep-fry until grape-shaped, then drizzle with a grape juice starch glaze. The finished dish is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Ingredients
grass carp fillet
500 g
grape juice
100 g
green vegetable leaves
4 slices
egg (beaten into egg wash)
1
breadcrumbs
75 g
scallion segments
to taste
ginger slices
to taste
soy sauce
to taste
vinegar
to taste
fine salt
to taste
sugar
to taste
cornstarch slurry
to taste
sesame oil
to taste
Instructions
1
Step 1
Crack the egg into a bowl and beat it with chopsticks until smooth to make an egg wash.
2
Step 2
Select a long strip of fish fillet and lay it skin-side down on the cutting board. With the blade facing the flesh, make diagonal (slanted) cuts every 2.4 cm, then make straight perpendicular cuts about every 1.2 cm. Cut deep enough to reach the skin but do not cut through it. Transfer to a bowl, add the scallions, ginger, salt, and soy sauce, and marinate for 20 minutes. Remove the fish, wipe off the scallions and ginger, then brush on a layer of the egg wash and press on a layer of breadcrumbs so that the fish and all the cut crevices are fully coated.
3
Step 3
Place a wok over high heat, add the sesame oil, and heat to about medium-hot (around 150°C / 300°F). Carefully lower the fish in and deep-fry for about 3 minutes, until it turns pale golden, the skin contracts, and the flesh flares outward into a bunch-of-grapes shape. Lift out and place on a serving plate.
4
Step 4
Blanch the green vegetable leaves briefly, then cut them into grape-leaf shapes and arrange them beside the fish so the whole presentation looks like a stem of "grapes".
5
Step 5
While the fish is frying, place another wok over high heat, add the grape juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and salt, and bring to a boil. Stir in the cornstarch slurry to make a thin, glossy sauce, drizzle in the sesame oil, and pour the sauce over the "grape fish" to serve.
