Chilli fried fish and fried rice. A little bit Chinese

When I moved out of home I remember ringing mum up and asking her for a select few recipes that I just couldn’t live without. This was one. Chilli fried fish from the Womens Weekly Chinese cook book. It must have been published in the eighties but I remember this cookbook with fond memories. The fish was coated in batter before being bathed in a sweet sticky chilli sauce. This dish was all about texture and taste for me. I love the crunch of the fried fish combined with the sticky sweet sauce. Even reheated the next day it is still so good. It may of lost it’s crunch but the sauce permeates the whole of the fish. It’s making me hungry again just thinking about it! I served this meal with the great sweet and spicy chicken fried rice

Recipe By: AWW Chinese Cooking Class Cookbook pg 24
Serving Size: 4
Cuisine:
Main Ingredient:
Categories: Spicy, Seafood, Main Dish

-= Ingredients =-
500 g Fish fillets ; (1lb)
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cornflour
1 egg white
3/4 cup water
Oil ; for deep-frying
Sauce
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon grated green ginger
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup chilli sauce
2 tablespooln sugar
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon dry sherry
2 tablespoon water

-= Instructions =-

1. Run some salt on fingers; this makes it easier to grasp the slippery skin. Put fish skin-side down. Work from tail to head. Hold skin at tail firmly. With a sharp knife held at an angle as a lever, and using a sawing motion, separate fish from skin. Remove bones from fillets; chop fish into 2.5cm (1in) cubes.
2. Sift flour and cornflour into bowl, make well in centre of sifted flours with back of spoon, add egg white and water, mix to a smooth batter, beat well
3. Heat oil in large pan, dip fish pieces in batter to coat completely, drain off excess batter; lower fish pieces into hot oil, cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 mins depending on thickness of fish. Drain on absorbent paper.

Sauce: Place oil, grated ginger, crushed garlic, the bottled tomato sauce and chilli sauce in a pan. Stir over medium heat one minute, add remaining ingredients, and mix well. Place chilli sauce in wok or large frying pan, add fish pieces, toss over high heat until fish pieces are coated with sauce and heated through.