made in MyKitchen | deep fried butterflied sea bass

there’s a poster on the wall in a clinic we always frequent that advises people to eat according to our blood type.. i thought it’s a very sound advice to follow.. every individual has different blood types that require different dietary needs.. since i’m a blood type A, i’m supposed to be loading up on mostly fresh greens and other ‘rabbit food’.. hubs happily pointed out that he’s been stuffing himself on the right diet.. a diet rich in protein based foods, a.k.a MEAT, that is.. oh, he’s a blood type O by the way.. he stopped grinning and yakking about how he can literally eat as much meat as he wishes and not have to really worry about anything when i calmly pointed out that tofu is a protein too, and since tofu is a protein which people of my blood type are advised to consume more than meat, it’s kinda a win win situation for the both of us if i cook it more often at home.. *HAH*

anyhoo~

when i’ve got a beautiful piece of fresh whole sea bass sitting around in the kitchen waiting to be cooked, i like nothing better than to either steam or deep fry it to perfection.. steaming is definitely the best method to bring out and highlight the flavor of fresh fish, but, deep frying, when done right, is just as perfect.. imagine crispy skin on the outside, and moist, silky flesh on the inside~

below is a really simple recipe for deep fried whole fish, nothing complicated.. the only thing ‘complicated’ about it is the sauce, i suppose.. it should be the right balance of salty and sweet, and thinned out with plenty of water.. however, not too watery, or it’ll end up tasting like soy water, if you know what i mean.. i’ve had fish dishes swimming in sauce that tasted of..well, tasted like the cook just poured a bottle of undiluted light soy sauce all over the fish..

and if you ask me, there really is no right ratio for the ingredients for the sauce.. not all brands of soy sauce carry the same level of saltiness.. same goes for the sweetening agent, be it the dark and thick cooking caramel, brown sugar, rock sugar, or the plain old white sugar.. you just need to gauge the amount of each, taste, adjust, taste again, and adjust further until you get it right.. you may end up with a big amount of sauce, but you can keep it in the freezer and use it another day.. and you don’t have to reserve it for just the one recipe either.. you can use the sauce to season other Asian style dishes as well~

DEEP FRIED BUTTERFLIED SEA BASS

Ingredients :

• 1 medium-large sea bass (siakap), scaled, cleaned, and butterflied

• plenty of corn starch
• fine sea salt
• garlic, finely minced
• light soy sauce
• cooking caramel (or brown sugar)
• some water

Method :

• first, heat up oil in a wok, enough to cover the fish
• give the butterflied fish a good rub all over on both sides with fine sea salt
• heap plenty of corn starch of one side of the fish

• using your fingers, spread the corn starch evenly all over. leave no parts of the fish uncovered. then, turn it over and do the same on the other side of the fish

• to check if the oil is hot enough, dip one end of a wooden chopstick into it. when it starts to fizzle and bubble, the oil is ready
• carefully lay the fish down in the hot oil
• let the fish cook on one side for about 5 minutes or longer, depending on the size

• when the bottom side of the fish looks a little golden, flip it over carefully. let it cook for a further 5 minutes or longer

• while waiting for the fish to cook, prepare the sauce
• in a bowl, mix 1 part (start with 1-2 tbs) light soy sauce and ¾ part cooking caramel. add in 2 parts water. taste, and adjust amount of each ingredient if needed
• in a small pot, saute garlic until fragrant and browned
• pour in the pre-mixed sauce and let it come to a simmer. add more water if needed. turn the heat of when it’s done and set aside

• when the fish is fully cooked, carefully lift it out of the hot oil into a serving platter
• garnish with plenty of chopped scallions, and pour the cooked sauce into the platter, under the fish
• serve, and enjoy

One Comment on “made in MyKitchen | deep fried butterflied sea bass”

1. Pingback: made in MyKitchen | steamed sea bass fillet « chapter V

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