Pan-fried fish in soy

Name: Pan-fried fish in soy
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Cantonese
Ingredients: Whiting 2; Salt 1 tsp; Cornflour 1 tbsp; Fresh ginger 40 g; Garlic 2 cloves; Spring onion / scallion 2; Light soy sauce 2 tbsp; Sugar 1 tsp; Dark soy sauce ½ tsp; Rice wine (cooking wine) 1 tsp; Cooking oil 3 tbsp

煎封魚

Pan-friedFishWeeknightWeekendMediumhands-on 20 min · start to finish 40 min

“Fried golden. The children’s favourite.”

Ingredientsserves 4

街市Whiting· small whole sea fish about 225 g each; threadfin bream, pomfret or yellow croaker in Hong Kong, whiting, garfish or bream in Australia2

雜貨舖Salt· for salting the fish1 tsp

雜貨舖Cornflour· cornflour, for a light dusting, optional1 tbsp

街市Fresh ginger· one slice to rub the wok, three to fry, the rest in shreds40 g

街市Garlic· sliced2 cloves

街市Spring onion / scallion· in 4 cm lengths2

雜貨舖Light soy sauce· for the sauce2 tbsp

雜貨舖Sugar· for the sauce1 tsp

雜貨舖Dark soy sauce· for the sauce½ tsp

雜貨舖Rice wine (cooking wine)· Shaoxing, to splash in1 tsp

雜貨舖Cooking oil3 tbsp

Method

Scale, gut and rinse the fish, score twice on each side on the diagonal, salt inside and out and leave fifteen minutes; then pat completely dry with kitchen paper, because a wet fish spits in hot oil.
Stir the light soy, sugar, dark soy and three tablespoons of water together for the sauce.
Heat the wok, rub the base with a slice of ginger, then add the oil and heat it; Hong Kong cooks say the ginger kills the fishiness and stops the skin sticking. Dust the fish lightly with cornflour first if you like.
Lay the fish in with the ginger slices over medium-high heat and do not touch it for three minutes; when the skin releases, turn and fry the other side three minutes until golden and cooked to the bone.
Push the fish to the side or lift it out, and fry the ginger shreds and garlic in the remaining oil for twenty seconds.
Return the fish, splash the wine down the side of the wok, pour the sauce in around the edge, cover and let it bubble one to two minutes; this is the sealing step, the sauce closing over the fried fish.
Uncover, spoon the sauce over the fish, add the spring onion and serve with the sauce.

Take care

Contains fish; the soy sauces contain soy and wheat. Dry the fish thoroughly and stand back as it goes in, because a wet fish spits in hot oil. Cook it to the bone: a fish of just over 200 g needs about three minutes a side. Bones are a hazard for young children, so give them the flesh along the back.

The story

Sealing in the pan is a Cantonese technique rather than one recipe: the ingredient is fried through, then a sauce goes in and the pan is covered so the flavour seals in, crisp outside and juicy inside. Threadfin bream was the everyday Hong Kong fish for it because it was cheap and thin enough to cook through in the pan, and pomfret the weekend upgrade. It is the dish Hong Kong families cook when the fish is too small or too ordinary to steam.

Same technique

Pan-fried dace fish cakes

Egg dumplings

Stuffed peppers, eggplant and tofu

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.