Soy Sauce Deep Fried Crispy Fish is such a simple dish to make. A popular dish served in Chinese restaurants, this is a crispy, savoury and delicious fish dish. It is super delicious eaten with steamed white rice. There are many types of fish available in the wet market but this recipe is best cooked using the fish belly. You can use whole fish for this as well.
Just marinate the fish with a little salt, coat with a thin layer of cornstarch and deep fried to crispy goodness. This crispy fish is then drizzled with a simple but amazingly delicious savory soy sauce gravy.. Try it once and you will know how good it is. So let’s start cooking!
What is Deep Fried Method?
Deep frying is a method where the fish / food is immersed in hot oil until fully cooked. It is different from oil blanching, which does not fully cooks the fish / food. The two most important factors in successful deep frying are the correct temperature and timing. If the oil temperature is too low or the timing is too short, the fish will be soggy, oily and undercooked. If the temperature is too high or too long, the fish / food will be burnt or too dry.
What fish is best for deep frying?
Not every type of fish is suitable for deep frying. Typically, neutral flavored, white-fleshed, and lean fish are best for frying. Freshwater fish such as bass, trout, and catfish are excellent choices. Avoid dense and oily fishes such as tuna, salmon, and sea bass.
What is the best oil for deep frying?
Choose oil that is neutral in flavour and has a high smoke point. The smoke point is the temperature when oil starts to break down and become unusable. When deep frying fish, you want to use an oil that has a high smoke point so you can fry the fish at a high temperature. Fish is delicate, so you want to choose an oil with a neutral flavor that won’t overpower the flavor of the fish. Suitable choices of oil used to deep fry fish are Canola Oil, Peanut Oil, Cottonseed Oil and Coconut Oil.
What is Soy Sauce Deep Fried Crispy Fish?
Soy sauce deep fried crispy fish is a Chinese style fried fish dish. There are two parts to this dish. First is frying the fish till crispy and the next is cooking the sauce and mixing it with the fish. Best to have the fish with its skin and cooked till the skin is crispy.
Ingredients You Need To Make Soy Sauce Deep Fried Crispy Fish
- Fish Belly
- Coriander Leaves
- Spring Onions
- Garlic Oil
- Light Soy Sauce
- Oyster Sauce
- Salt
- Sugar
- Sesame Oil
- Dark Soy Sauce
- Water
Overview On How to Make Soy Sauce Deep Fried Crispy Fish
Prepare Ingredients:
- Clean and make a few slits on fish belly
- Sprinkle salt and coat with cornstarch
- Mince garlic and chop coriander
- Place sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix well
Deep Fry Fish:
- Heat up oil and saute garlic till fragrant and turns golden brown. Transfer garlic and oil into a bowl.
- Add enough oil for deep fry. Oil is hot enough when small bubbles appear. Carefully place the fish to deep fry. Do not move the fish and allow to fry for about 7 minutes. At this point, a light crust should have formed, and you can give the wok a little shake and the fish should slide around easily. Then turn the fish over and using medium heat, continue to fry for another 5 minutes or until cooked and crispy. Remove onto serving plate.
Cook Soy Sauce Mixture:
- Pour the sauce mixture into the hot wok, add a stalk of coriander leaf and turn the heat up until the sauce is simmering. (about 30 seconds). Remove the coriander leaf when sauce is done.
Prepare the dish:
- Pour the hot soy sauce mixture onto the deep fried fish.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and spring onions on top and drizzle with the fried garlic and garlic oil. Serve hot.
How to Serve Soy Sauce Deep Fried Crispy Fish
You can serve this Chinese style fried fish with steamed white rice. For a wholesome meal and easy lunch or dinner, this crispy fried fish can be served together with a stir fry vegetable dish and a warm soup.
Soy Sauce Deep Fried Crispy Fish
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Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 fish belly, or whole white fleshed fish
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves, shredded
- 2 tbsp spring onion, shredded
- 2 tbsp garlic oil, 3 pips garlic
Sauce:
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 stalk coriander leaves
- 1 cup water
Have ready all ingredients needed for the dish.
Lay the cleaned fish belly flat on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, make a few cuts along the centre of the fish. Sprinkle a little salt and coat with a thin layer of cornstarch all over the fish. Then leave on a plate.
Mince garlic and set aside.
Next, prepare the vegetables for garnish. Cut some coriander leaves into small sections and set aside.
Next, cut 2 stalks spring onion into sections. Then, cut the white and green portions into thin shreds. Also cut red chilli into long thin shreds. Soak everything in ice cold water. Set aside for garnishing later.
Have ready all ingredients needed to make the sauce.
Place all sauce ingredients except coriander leaves into a mixing bowl and stir to mix well. Then get ready to deep fry the fish.
Heat up 2 tbsp oil in wok. Saute chopped garlic till fragrant and turns golden brown in colour. Then remove from wok and pour into a bowl.
Heat up enough oil for deep frying. When oil is hot enough, small bubbles will form. Put in the fish and deep fry for about 7 minutes. Then turn the fish over and using medium heat, continue to fry for another 5 minutes or until cooked and crispy. Turn the fish over again during the deep frying process. When cooked, dish up.
Remove oil and pour sauce into the wok. Add in the stalk of coriander leaves and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and cook for 2 minutes. Remove coriander leaf and dish up the sauce.
Spoon sauce over the fried fish. Drizzle with fried garlic and garlic oil. Top with spring onions, red chillies and diced coriander leaves. Serve hot with white rice and enjoy!
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients:
Make Sauce:
Cooking Deep Fried Fish:
Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Notes
- The cuts on the fish should be on an angle and reach to the bone.
- Choose oil that is neutral flavour and has high smoke point for deep frying.
- The two most important factors in successful deep frying are right temperature and timing.
- Simmer the coriander leaves in the sauce for a while to allow aroma to infuse into the sauce.
