Sweet and Sour Fish

Sweet and Sour Fish is a classic Chinese dish made out of crispy deep fried battered fish served in a sweet and sour sauce made out of tomatoes, pineapple juice and/or vinegar.

Sweet and Sour Fish

Sweet and Sour Fish is a classic Chinese dish made out of crispy deep fried battered fish served in a sweet and sour sauce made out of tomatoes, pineapple juice and/or vinegar. There are other varieties of sweet and sour and the most popular one is the pork version. Chicken, beef and squid varieties do also exist but not as popular, they are also battered and deep fried but sometimes the beef and squid are just stir fried.

I guess this is the most popular Chinese dish ever, it is present almost everywhere there are Chinese restaurants or takeaways but all of them are not created equal and definitely some of them stand out specially those which have the perfect balance of sweetness, sourness and savouriness, not to mention that the fish or meat should be really crispy and still juicy on the inside. The recipe below is a good example of that balance and hopefully you try it out and try what I am talking about.

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Sweet and Sour Fish 1

Sweet and Sour Fish

  • Author: Raymund
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Chinese

Description

Sweet and Sour Fish is a classic Chinese dish made out of crispy deep fried battered fish served in a sweet and sour sauce made out of tomatoes, pineapple juice and/or vinegar.


Ingredients

Scale

Deep Fried Battered Fish

  • 600g white fleshy fish like snapper, hapuka or grouper, cut into bite size pieces
  • ¼ cup flour
  • ⅓ cup cornstarch
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • oil for deep frying
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper

Sweet and Sour

  • 1 can pineapple pieces, retain the juice
  • 1 thumb sized ginger, sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper (capsicum), sliced
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch, mixed in 3 tbsp water
  • ¼ cup white vinegar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup tomato ketchup
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 carrots, sliced into chunks
  • 1 large red onion, sliced
  • 5 cloves, garlic minced
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • oil

Instructions

  1. In a deep bowl combine together ¼ cup flour, ⅓ cup corn flour, 2 eggs, 4 tbsp water and 1 tsp salt, mix thoroughly until free of lumps, texture should be sticky but still runny.
  2. Add fish and coat evenly, set aside and place in fridge covered for at least 1 hour.
  3. Prepare a wok and add oil for frying fish pieces. Deep fry fish in high heat for 3 minutes. Drain then set aside on a plate.
  4. On a separate wok, add oil and sauté garlic and ginger.
  5. Add capsicum, carrots and onions then continue to stir fry for a minute.
  6. Add chicken stock, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, pineapple juice from the pineapple, tomato ketchup and diluted cornstarch. Bring it to a boil then simmer for 2 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  7. If you prefer it to be crispy then turn off heat and pour sauce over deep fried fish and sliced tomatoes. Otherwise add pork to the mixture then simmer for 2 more minutes.

 

Sweet and Sour Fish Wide

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5 Responses

  1. I always feel like a bogan Aussie ordering sweet & sour Chinese food, but it’s my fave. Good to know it’s actually the most popular dish. Might make this for dinner tomorrow. Simple & delicious. 🙂

  2. nicolthepickle says:

    I make sweet and sour pork with pineapple once in a while, but have never tried sweet and sour fish. I think I’ll try this sometime. Thanks for the recipe.

  3. suituapui says:

    Very popular dish at restaurants here but yours sure look a lot nicer!

  4. Among all the sweet and sour dish, I have to say my favorite is fish!! I got to try your recipe. We don’t normally order it in a Chinese restaurant, but once in a while I crave for sweet and sour fish. What a great timing! 🙂

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