Sweet and Sour Squirrel Fish ----Chinese Food uno

Sweet and Sour Squirrel Fish 

Chinese Food

         Sweet and Sour Squirrel Fish

 

Chinese Food uno

The dark brown fried fish is crisp on the outside and tender and yielding on the inside, and as “more-ish” on the palette as any deep-fried delight. However, it’s the sauce that makes or breaks a good Squirrel fish—it should be sufficiently piquant, singingly sweet and sour enough to titillate even regal taste buds. Often served in a retina-damaging shade of orange in restaurants, a home-made squirrel fish should be a little more subtle and elegant, in keeping with its royal heritage.
Ingredients:
• 1 fish (carp, yellow croaker or Mandarin fish, around 1 kg
• 1 quarter of onion
• 50g bamboo shoot (diced in cubes)
• 50g carrots (diced in cubes)
• 50g sweet corn kernels (tinned or frozen one are all ok)
• 50g frozen peas
• 50g pine nuts kernels
• 2 tablespoons cooking wine
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 8 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon salt • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• sesame oil
 • 80g corn flour (to dust the fish)
• Vegetable oil to fry the fish
Method:
1. Remove the head of the fish and split the underside of its “chin” to flatten it. Set aside for later use.
2. Remove the spine by filleting the fish from head to tail, being careful not to cut the tail. Slide the knife lengthwise beneath the backbone to detach it from the flesh, and remove. The tail will stay attached with both sides of the fish’s body.
3. Remove the glossy underside of the stomach, which is a bit bitter. Score the flesh with your knife, cross-hatching the meat side without cutting through the skin. The meat should now be portioned into small square blocks. Season with one teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon pepper and two tablespoon cooking wine.
4. Pour the cornstarch onto a plate and dust the fish and head, removing any excess.
5. Heat some oil in a pan or wok and fry the head until golden brown. Remove the head and drain it on kitchen paper. Now add the fish, holding it by the tail for the first few seconds to set the shape. Fry for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain it on kitchen paper. Place the fish and the head on a serving plate.
6. For the sauce: add the tomato paste to the wok and heat for a few seconds (this will remove the tinny flavor and a bit of the acidity). Add ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water. Mix well and then add the vegetables and ginger. Stir again and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste. Dissolve 3 tsp of cornstarch into 6 tsp of cold water and mix this into the sauce to thicken. Turn down the heat, drizzle in some sesame oil and pour the sauce over the fried fish. Finish off the dish with some pine nuts, and it’s ready to serve!

 

                                           Sweet and Sour Squirrel Fish video