Sweet and Sour Crispy Skin Fish
A classic traditional Sichuan dish: carp is coated in batter, fried until crispy, and finished with a sweet and sour sauce. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, with a perfectly balanced sweet-tart flavor.
Ingredients
Fresh crucian carp (cleaned, scored)
1 (750g)
Wet starch (for coating)
150g
Refined vegetable oil (for frying fish)
1500g
White sugar (for sauce)
75g
Vinegar (for sauce)
50g
Meat broth (for sauce)
500g
Sichuan salt (4g for marinating)
8g
Minced ginger
10g
Minced garlic
20g
Shaoxing wine (for marinating)
10g
Shredded scallion (for sprinkling on fish)
15g
Pickled red chili strips (for sprinkling on fish)
10g
Cilantro (for sprinkling on fish)
10g
Sesame oil (for sauce)
8g
MSG
1g
Instructions
1
Marinating
Score the fish body, coat both sides evenly with salt and Shaoxing wine, marinate for about 10 minutes.
2
Frying the fish
Coat the fish in wet starch batter, fry in oil heated to approximately 70% of full heat until golden brown with crispy skin and tender flesh, remove and place upright, gently press to shape.
3
Preparing and pouring the sauce
In a bowl, mix salt, wet starch, white sugar, and meat broth to make the sauce. Stir-fry minced ginger and garlic in a pan until fragrant, pour in the sauce, simmer until thickened and bubbling, add vinegar, sesame oil, and minced scallion, then pour the sauce over the fish and sprinkle with red chili strips, shredded scallion, and cilantro.
