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The idea to make Chinese sweet and sour fish came to me as I was driving home from fishing.
A great many variations exist on Asian sweet and sour fish, as opposed to the sweet and sour that is escabeche in Europe: some from China, some from Southeast Asia, some using whole fish and some, like this one, with fish fillets.
The reason this structure is so popular is because, as anyone who has ever eaten Panda’s orange chicken knows, the combination of crispy, sweet, tangy and a little spicy is a sure-fire winner. Incidentally, I developed a recipe for what I call an adult version of Panda’s orange chicken here.
I live in NorCal, where Pacific rockfish is king. Common, easy to catch, lean, white fish. Rockfish basically fills the niche of walleye or perch when I lived in the Midwest, black seabass and porgies when I lived in the Northeast, and bass, snapper and grouper when I lived in the South. All are good choices here.
Inevitably when I return from a Bay Area fishing trip, I get stuck in traffic, giving me some time to think. It was hot, and I wanted something that would come together quickly so I wouldn’t heat up the kitchen.
Chinese stir fries sprung to mind. What about sweet and sour fish, like what I do with whole rockfish or carp? While I love that dish, you do normally do it with whole fish, and I wanted something with fillets; I’d caught some big black rockfish, large enough to fillet easily. Why not just do the same dish with chunks of boneless meat? Yessss…
So this recipe, using fillets, is a mashup of that whole fish recipe linked above and my recipe for General Tso’s pheasant, which is, more or less, crack. It hinges on velveting, a Chinese pre-frying trick that sets a thin batter onto meat, which keeps it tender; it’s why the meat in a Chinese restaurant tastes different from when you do a stir-fry at home.
Normally velveting is a “cool” pre-fry at about 275°F — here we’re actually frying at a full 350°F. The effect is exactly like the meat in orange chicken or General Tso’s.
Sweet and sour fish comes together quickly, so make sure you have everything all set before you begin. I pre-fry the fish, then make the rice first and let it sit while I am finishing the stir-fry. If you want to make a Chinese seafood feast, make my recipe for salt and pepper fish or squid stir fry for another entrée. None of these takes more than 30 minutes to make.
And it’s good. Really good. Smack yo mama in the face good. Shut-up-I’m-eating good. Make yourself some sweet and sour fish, I tell you. Make it tonight. Then go fishing and make it again.
Chinese Sweet and Sour Fish
Ingredients
MARINADE
- 4 tablespoons potato starch or corn starch
- 2 or 3 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 cups peanut or vegetable oil for frying
SAUCE
- 1/2 cup chicken or fish stock, or clam juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar, or more if you want it sweet
- 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar or malt vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste mixed with 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon potato or corn starch
STIR-FRY
- 1 1/2 pounds skinless fish, cut into into bite-sized pieces
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil, lard or vegetable oil
- 8 dried hot chiles, use less if you don’t want it spicy, broken in half and seeds shaken out
- A 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 3 tablespoons chopped chives
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients for the marinade together (except for the oil) and then mix in the chunks of fish. Make sure they are all well coated, and set it aside while you chop everything else. Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce and set it aside.
- Heat the 3 cups of oil in a wok or deep frying pan until it's about 350°F. If you don't have a thermometer, you'll know the oil is hot enough when a bit of flour flicked into it sizzles instantly. Get a baking sheet or tray handy and line it with paper towels. Fry the fish in two or three batches, separating the pieces of fish the moment they hit the hot oil. Cook until they turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove and let them drain on the paper towels.
- When the fish is done, carefully pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the oil. Add the chiles, ginger and garlic and stir-fry over high heat for 30 seconds. Add the fish and stir fry for a few seconds, then pour over the sauce ingredients -- be sure to stir the sauce before you pour it in because the starch will tend to settle to the bottom. Let this boil furiously for 1 minute, then turn off the heat.
- Stir in the chives and sesame oil and serve at once with steamed rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Another one of your great recipes. I love each and everyone of them. All though all of your recipes are online I bought 3 of your books, just to say thank you.
Marc: Thank you for the support! I really appreciate it.
Made this with some fresh lake trout and it was Devine! I have made it with store bought fish, magi I think, but with the fresh laker it was awesome! I almost always smoke lake trout or grill on cedar plank with maple sugar. What I’ll say is if you have a paler lake trout, try this with it. You won’t be disappointed!
Fabulous- actually wanted it a little more sour so I added a bit more vinegar once plated. Curious- I have only made velveted fish once before- a NYT’s recipe. There they call for egg white vs egg yolk which gave it a little fluffier and softer coating. Have you tried this recipe with that change?
Very tasty!
Made this last night. Came out fantastic. Really easy to make #HankShaw
Dont know how you do it. I have repeatedly knocked the culinary socks off many a guest that has ventured into my home with your recipes. I took a crack at this one tonight and once again, empty bowels and raving reviews. Well done and thank you for all the hunters out there that are tired of the usual summer sausage and the crock pot venison stew.
We have made this twice over the last few weeks with both mahi-mahi and Marlin. I love that this dish has very few ‘Asian’ ingredients but absolutely has an excellent ‘Asian’ flavor.
I personally think it’s too much tomato paste.
Unbelievable! Another perfect dish. Thanks Hank
On a scale of one to ten, this recipe goes up to eleven. It’s easy, fast, and incredibly good. The individual bites are just lightly crunchy enough on the outside to contain the incredible delicacy of the fish, which is tender without being mushy. The flavors are immediately familiar, but far, far better than most versions one will encounter. This is the real deal. The plating comes out just like the photo.
This was the first time I’ve made sweet sour anything. You made it easy! And I loved it. I used halibut this time and will absolutely fix this recipe again with rockfish and maybe crappie. Easy peasy.
I did make the mistake of rubbing my eyes about 4 hours later. Hope I never do that again.
Thanks for this recipe, Hank.
Finally made this with rockfish. Very good! Quite spicy with a teaspoon of pepper flakes with seeds, but all agreed it was very good. None left, that’s a good sign. Thanks Hank. I really appreciate all you do for expanding my world of cooking!!!
Larry
I made this last month for myself, as my family was supposed to be gone for the night. When my daughter came home and tried some and loved it. She has been begging me to make it again so I did this evening and it was amazing …again. Thank you Hank!
The whole family loves this recipe, it is my go to for catfish. The texture of the batter is a perfect match to what you would get at your favorite Chinese restaurant
The best fish recipe I’ve ever used!! I used lingcod, and rock fish. You won’t be disappointed!