Photograph of the finished Sweet and sour mandarin fish

China · Cá chiên giòn sốt chua ngọt dứa

Sweet and sour mandarin fish

50 min Hands-on time + 20 min waiting
HardDifficulty
5 stepsSteps
Serves 4 Amounts follow along 4

What to get ready

  • Photograph of Sea bass Sea bass 1.8 lb
  • Photograph of Cornstarch Cornstarch 7.1 oz
  • Photograph of Pineapple Pineapple 9.9 oz
  • Photograph of Bell pepper Bell pepper 2
  • Photograph of Ketchup Ketchup 4.2 oz
  • Photograph of Rice vinegar Rice vinegar ½ cup
  • Photograph of Sugar Sugar 4.9 oz
  • Photograph of Chicken eggs Chicken eggs 2
  • Photograph of Oil Oil 1 ⅔ cups
  • Photograph of Tapioca starch Tapioca starch 1.1 oz
  • Photograph of Steamed rice Steamed rice 1.8 lb

Method

  1. 1 Score both sides of the fish diagonally down to the bone, then marinate with salt and egg for 20 minutes.
  2. 2 Coat each notch thoroughly with cornstarch so that when fried, the notches open up into wings.
  3. 3 Fry the whole fish in oil at 180 degrees for 6 minutes, holding the tail curled up with a spatula; this version is fried straight, not carved into a squirrel shape like the Suzhou squirrel fish.
  4. 4 Make the sauce by mixing tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, and 80 ml of water, then dissolve cornstarch in water to thicken it.
  5. 5 Sauté the pineapple and bell peppers for 90 seconds, mix into the sauce, and pour over the fish immediately after frying.

With an appliance

  • Air fryer 48 min

    Replace step 3: spray oil into the grooves of the batter, fry the whole fish in an air fryer at 195 degrees for 16 minutes, flip at the 10th minute and spray more oil to make the grooves crispy; keep the sauce from steps 4 and 5 the same.

Start cooking