Gannan Small Fried Fish

Ingredients

• 600 g grass carp or other firm freshwater fish fillet
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 5 tbsp sweet potato starch
• 500 ml groundnut oil, for frying
• 3 fresh green chillies
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 30 g fresh ginger
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp white rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 150 ml water or light stock
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 3 spring onions

Before you cook

• Cut the fish into thick strips about six centimetres long and two centimetres wide.
• Toss the fish with the salt, one tablespoon of the Shaoxing wine and the white pepper, then leave it for twenty minutes.
• Cut the chillies into diagonal slices and remove some seeds if you prefer less heat.
• Slice the ginger into thin batons and the garlic into coins.
• Mix the cornflour with two tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry.
• Cut the spring onions into four-centimetre lengths.

Steps

1. Drain any liquid from the marinated fish and pat the pieces dry.
2. Dust the fish thoroughly in the sweet potato starch, pressing so it sticks in a thin even coat.
3. Heat the oil in a wok until a pinch of starch dropped in fizzes briskly, around one hundred and seventy degrees Celsius.
4. Fry the fish in two batches for three minutes each, until pale gold and firm.
5. Lift the fish onto a rack and let the oil come back up to temperature.
6. Return all the fish to the wok and fry it for a further forty-five seconds so the crust sets hard.
7. Drain the fish on the rack and pour off all but two tablespoons of the oil.
8. Set the wok back on a high flame and add the ginger, garlic and chillies.
9. Stir the aromatics for thirty seconds until they smell sharp and sweet.
10. Pour in the remaining Shaoxing wine, the rice vinegar, both soy sauces, the sugar and the water.
11. Bring the sauce to a hard boil and let it bubble for one minute.
12. Stir the cornflour slurry and pour it in, swirling until the sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon.
13. Return the fish to the wok and toss it gently just twice so the crust stays intact.
14. Add the spring onions, tip everything onto a warm platter, and serve immediately.