Crispy Sea Bream - Recipe by Suzie Lee.

Ingredients

500 g fresh sea bream or other white whole fish, descaled, gutted and trimmed
1 heaped Tbs cornflour
2 Tbs vegetable oil
20 g fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into fine rounds
2 Tbs Shaoxing wine

Sauce:

1 Tbs sugar
3 Tbs boiling water
1 1/2 Tbs light soy sauce
1/4 Tbs white pepper

Method

Ask your fishmonger to descale, gut and trim the fish, then clean by rinsing with water (you can sometimes buy the whole fish already prepared and cleaned at the supermarket). Dry the fish well with some paper towels to stop the oil spitting when frying. Dust the whole fish with the cornflour on both sides and set aside.

To make the sauce, dissolve the sugar in the water in a bowl, add the light soy sauce and pepper and mix together.

To cook the fish, heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. Add the ginger slices and fry for a couple of minutes until the ginger browns slightly at the edges. Remove the ginger and set aside.

Place the fish in the wok/pan and fry for 5 minutes (press down with a fish slice so the whole side is seared), then flip and repeat on the other side for a further 5 minutes. If the fish is starting to burn, lower the heat to medium and allow to cook for a couple of minutes longer on each side. You want the skin to have a lovely, golden, crunchy appearance.

Return the ginger slices to the pan/wok (you may need another tablespoon or so of oil to stop the fish sticking at this stage). Then drizzle the Shaoxing wine around the edges (not directly over the fish) and cook for about 1 minute.

Pour the prepared sauce around the fish, not directly over it. Allow the sauce to bubble and start to caramelise, then cook the fish for a couple of minutes on one side before flipping over and cooking on the other side. This will coat the fish in a sticky sauce. (If the sauce starts to burn, then add a splash of water.)

Slice into the fish to check it is fully cooked - the flesh should flake away from the bones. If not, cook for another couple of minutes. Plate up, ready for your feast.

Top tips:

If there is any leftover fish, remove from the bone and use to bulk up a fried rice dish.

Place the fish bones in a pot of water and boil down to make a stock.

Credits: This is an edited extract from Simply Chinese Feasts by Suzie Lee published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $45.

Photo Credits: This is an edited extract from Simply Chinese Feasts by Suzie Lee published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $45.