Chilli Fish

Think of a comfort meal, cooked at home quicker than your closest home delivery and enjoyed with your feet up on the couch with your favourite program. The first thing that comes to my mind is Chinese food! Hot, spicy, sweet, sour and covered in a glossy sauce.

The universal appeal and popularity of Chinese takeaway style food is because it caters to our “Bliss Point”—the point at which we get the greatest pleasure from the combination of salt, sugar and fat. Cooking your Chinese food at home ensures the quality and freshness of the ingredients used and complete control over the use of sodium, sugar and oil.

This easy and quick recipe makes a delicious meal that you can enjoy in minutes without overdosing on salt and fat.

You can use the same recipe for boneless chicken and prawns for a super quick and vibrant meal.
Chilli fish and fish Manchurian are same dish in restaurants, but in some restaurants fish Manchurian is made with fish balls. But the sauce remains the same.

Chilli Fish Recipe tastes best when it is hot. Store it in a hot box or in an airtight containers to keep it warm for hours together

Ingredients

fish fillet: 1 cup

soy sauce: 3/4 tsp

cornstarch: 3/4 cup

soy sauce: 1 tbsp

black pepper: 1/8 tsp

vinegar: 1 tsp

ginger-garlic paste: 1 1/2 tbsp

red chilli sauce: 2 tsp

Sugar: 1/2 tsp

cornstarch: 1 1/2 tbsp

plain flour: 1 1/2 tbsp

oil for shallow fry or deep fry

garlic cloves: 3

green and red bell pepper--chopped: 1/4

bulbs of green onion--chopped: 4 tbsp

salt to taste

How To Make Chilli Fish

1. Wash the fish and cut into cubes.
2. Add 3/4 tsp. soy sauce, ginger garlic paste, and black pepper. Mix and marinate. Set aside for at least 30 minutes. >3. For the sauce, mix 3/4 tsp. cornstarch, 1 tsp. soy sauce, vinegar, red chili sauce, and sugar in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat a pan with oil for deep or shallow frying.
4. Mix 1 1/2 tbsp. each cornstarch and flour, little salt and stir well. Sprinkle with some water to moisten. Coat the fish cubes with flour mixture. The batter should not be runny. Fish has to be coated with a thin layer of batter.
5. Fry the fish pieces to golden on medium heat. Drain on paper towels.
6. After you finish frying fish, drain the oil from the pan retaining 2 tbsp. oil in the same pan.
7. Add garlic and fry until fragrant. Add bell peppers and white parts of green onion and fry on high heat for about 3 mins. Onions and bell peppers should be crunchy, not over-cooked or soft.
8. For saucy recipe, stir in the sauce mixture. When it bubbles, add fish. Remove from the heat and stir well. >10. For dry recipe, continue to cook on high for 2 to 3 minutes. >11. Garnish with chopped green parts of green onion.

Recipe Notes

1. The color of your dish can vary depending on your red chili sauce.
2. If you are using salmon to prepare this dish, you need not use egg since this fish remains moist and soft after frying too. But if you are using any other kind, you could toss the fish cubes in 1 small egg to lock the juices in the fish so that they remain soft, juicy and moist after frying.

Trivia

Lungfish can live out of water for several years. It secretes a mucus cocoon and burrows itself under the unbaked earth. It takes in air with its lung through a built-in breathing tube that leads to the surface. A lungfish has both gills and a lung.