Chinese Seafood Recipes - Sweet and Sour Sea Bass

Ingredients

• 1-1 1/4 lb. sea bass

• pinch salt

• pinch Ve-Tsin (M.S.G.)

• tiny pinch pepper

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

• 1 teaspoon ginger sherry

• 2-3 tablespoons, self-raising flour

• peanut oil for deep frying

• 8-10 onion 'flowers'

Sweet-Sour sauce

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• pinch salt

• pinch pepper

• pinch Ve-Tsin (M.S.G)

• 3 tablespoons malt vinegar

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon tomato ketchup

• scant 1/4 pint (U.S. 1/2 cup) water

• 1 teaspoon corn-flour

• 1 dessertspoon water

• 2 tablespoons Chinese pickles

   

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Method:

1. Scale and clean the fish through the gills. Dry it, inside and out, and sprinkle it, inside and out, with the salt, Ve-Tsin and pepper, mixed together. Dab the fish here and there with the sesame oil and ginger sherry.

2. Have the oil deep enough for the fish to be submerged in it. Heat it to the stage where a slice of raw potato does not at once rice to the surface when it is dropped into the oil.

3. The temperature will then be 350-360°F. or 176°-182°C. which is correct for raw fish. It will require 10-15 minutes. Raise the temperature towards the end of cooking so that the fish will be golden in color.

4. Place the well drained bass on a heated oval dish, arrange the sweet-sour sauce around it and garnish with the onion 'flowers', and boil for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Add the pickles and heat through.

5. Cut four 1 1/2 to 2-inch lengths of firm green spring onion stalks; then cut down one-third way from each end.

6. Drop them into cold iced water and the ends will spring into circular fringes or 'flowers'.

Note: Bring the first eight ingredients to the boil. Stir in the corn-flour, blended with the dessertspoon water.