Squirrel Mandarin Fish
A classic Zhejiang specialty made by deep-frying mandarin fish into a curled shape and topping it with a tomato-based sweet-and-sour sauce. Golden in color with a crispy exterior and tender flesh, offering a balanced sweet-and-sour flavor.
Ingredients
Live mandarin fish (scaled and gutted)
750 g
Shrimp meat
30 g
Cooked spring bamboo shoot dice
20 g
Rehydrated shiitake mushroom dice
20 g
Green peas
15
Fine salt
12 g
Aromatic vinegar
50 g
Dry starch
60 g
Wet starch
35 g
Cooking wine
25 g
Refined sugar
100 g
Fresh broth
100 g
Tomato sauce
100 g
Scallion white segments
10 g
Minced garlic
5 g
Cooked lard (for frying fish)
1500 g
Sesame oil
15 g
Instructions
1
Marinating the fish
Mix the mandarin fish with cooking wine and fine salt evenly, then coat with dry starch.
2
Preparing the sauce
Combine tomato sauce, fresh broth, refined sugar, aromatic vinegar, cooking wine, wet starch, and fine salt into a flavoring sauce.
3
Shaping and deep-frying
Curl the two fish fillets upward and lift the tail to form a squirrel shape. Holding the tail, lower the fish into hot oil and fry for about twenty seconds to set the shape, then lower the whole fish into the oil and fry until light golden, remove, and arrange on a plate in the squirrel shape.
4
Pouring the sauce
Heat cooked lard over high heat, fry the shrimp meat until cooked then drain the oil. Add scallion white segments and fry until golden and fragrant, then remove. Stir-fry minced garlic, bamboo shoot dice, shiitake dice, and green peas until cooked. Add the flavoring sauce and stir well, then add cooked lard and sesame oil and stir to combine. Pour over the fish and top with the cooked shrimp.
