Crispy Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
30min
30min
4
Main Course
Asian
Takeout doesn't hold a candle to this fresh and crispy fish with the tastiest sweet and sour sauce you may have ever tasted.
Ingredients
- 1 cupseafood stock or chicken stock
- ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine or sherry
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Chinese chili garlic sauce, sambal oelek, or sriracha
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1½ tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 4 (4 to 5 ounce) black sea bass or sablefish (black cod) fillets
-
2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
Steamed rice and bok choy, for serving
Directions
Make the Sauce
In a small bowl, whisk the stock with the soy, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, wine, cornstarch, and chili garlic sauce. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk the sauce ingredients, then add to the saucepan. Simmer until thickened and glossy, about 5 minutes.
Pan-Fry the Fish
Heat the remaining oil in a large nonstick skillet over hight heat until shimmering. Add the fish, skin side down, and press lightly with a spatula to sear the skin for 10 seconds per fillet. Cook, undisturbed, until the edges are browned and crispy and the surface is just barely translucent, about 5 minutes. Flip the fish and cook just until done, about 1 minute longer. Transfer the fish to plates, skin side up.
Finish and Serve
Spoon the sauce over the top and garnish with scallions. Serve with rice and bok choy alongside.
Pro tips
Pair it Up
The best wines for most Asian dishes are high in acidity. Snappy, clean, high acid wines have a kind of refreshing vibrancy that’s a great counterpoint to the flavors. Sauvignon Blanc, with its penetrating acidity and clean tastes, is a good match. So is unoaked Pinot Gris, Spanish Albariños, and sparkling wines from just about anywhere.
Spice It Up
Sauté 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chiles with the ginger and garlic for fresh heat.
Grace Parisi
Culinary Director Grace Parisi is a cook, writer and cookbook author. Formerly the Senior Test Kitchen Editor at Food & Wine Magazine and Executive Food Director at TimeInc Books, her work has appeared in Cooking Light, Health, O Magazine, Epicurious, Fitness, Today, Serious Eats, Martha Stewart, and many more. She’s the author of more than 6 books, among them The Portlandia Cookbook and Get Saucy, which was nominated for a James Beard award for Best Single Subject Cookbook.
