Cook’s notes
How to make lunch for three people with only 300 grams of fish fillets? Slice them, batter them, deep fry them then serve them with a sticky, syrupy and citrusy sweet sour sauce.
In an old newsletter, I mentioned Stephen Yan (no, not Martin Yan) and his cooking show called Wok with Yan that I enjoyed decades ago.
One of the best lessons from the show is how to stretch a small amount of meat to feed more people than usual. I applied the technique with fish. I had thawed 300 grams of swordfish belly fillets, there were three of us for lunch and I had to make sure that there would be more than enough for everyone.
Swordfish belly fillets are used here but feel free to substitute any firm and fleshy fish.
Chinese-style fish fillet with lemon sauce
Ingredients
- 300 grams fish fillets (about 10.5 oz) cut into ¼-inch slices
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning store bought
Lemon sauce
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon grated ginger
- 2 pinches salt
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 pair kaffir lime leaves thinly sliced (ribs discarded)
To fry the fish
- cooking oil for deep frying
- 1 egg white
- ¼ cup cornstarch
To serve
- sliced scallions
- mint leaves torn into small pieces
- lemon slices
Instructions
Season the fish
- Press the fish slices between stacks of kitchen paper to remove excess water.
- Place the fish in a bowl, add the lemon pepper seasoning and toss well.
Cook the lemon sauce
- In a small sauce pan, melt the sugar with the lemon juice and a quarter cup of water.
- Add the lemon zest, ginger, salt, turmeric, chili flakes and kaffir lime leaves.
- Boil over medium heat for about five minutes until reduced by half.
- Taste, add more lemon juice or salt, or both, then set aside to cool.
Fry the fish
- In a wok or frying pan, heat enough cooking to reach a depth of at least three inches.
- Pour the egg white over the seasoned fish, add the cornstarch, toss until a light batter forms and coats each slice of fish.
- Drop the battered fish fillets one by one into the hot oil.
- Cook until a crisp crust forms on the surface of the fish slices (see notes).
- Scoop out with a kitchen spider, tap gently over the pan to allow excess oil to drip off and transfer the fish to a shallow bowl or deep plate.
Assemble the dish
- Drizzle the lemon sauce over the dish.
- Sprinkle in the scallions and mint leaves.
- Arrange lemon slices on the side.
- Serve with rice.
Pork udon with chili peanut sauce
