Sweet and Sour Fresh Fish Chunks
Fresh fish pieces are dredged in flour, deep-fried, and tossed in a glossy sweet-and-sour sauce made with ketchup and diced fruit. A classic Zhejiang-style dish.
Ingredients
Fresh fish (head and tail removed, scaled and gutted, washed clean, cut into 4 cm long by 3 cm wide rectangular chunks, marinated then coated with beaten egg and cornstarch)
1
Onion (diced)
to taste
Carrot (diced)
to taste
Green bell pepper (diced)
to taste
Pineapple (diced)
to taste
Eggs (beaten and mixed into the fish chunks)
2
Spicy soy sauce (regular soy sauce may be substituted)
30 g
Tomato ketchup
100 g
Sugar
100 g
Fine salt
to taste
Cooking wine
to taste
Cornstarch
80 g
Wet cornstarch slurry
200 g
White pepper
to taste
Minced garlic
15 g
Peanut oil (about 100 g absorbed)
1000 g
Instructions
1
Step 1
Remove the head and tail from the fish, scale and gut it, wash and pat dry. Cut into 4 cm long by 3 cm wide rectangular chunks. Place in a container, add fine salt, cooking wine, and white pepper, and marinate for about two hours. Beat the eggs and mix them into the fish. Then coat each fish chunk evenly with cornstarch.
2
Step 2
In a bowl, combine the spicy soy sauce (regular soy sauce may be substituted), tomato ketchup, sugar, fine salt (to taste), cooking wine (to taste), wet cornstarch slurry, and water to make the sauce.
3
Step 3
Heat a wok over high heat and pour in the peanut oil until it reaches about 70% hot. Add the cornstarch-coated fish chunks in batches and fry until the outer skin becomes slightly firm, then lower the heat to gently fry the fish through (pierce with a chopstick — if it slides in easily, the fish is done). Remove the fish and place on a serving plate; drain off the oil. Return the wok to the heat, add 50 g peanut oil, and when hot, add the diced onion and minced garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the diced carrot, green bell pepper, and pineapple and stir-fry briefly. Pour in the sauce mixture and stir-fry until it thickens and turns glossy. Drizzle in about 30 g of clear oil, stir well, and pour over the fish on the plate. Serve immediately.
