Recipe Description
Stir-fried fish sliced with ginger and scallions is a classic Cantonese dish that is easily available at most Chinese tai-chow restaurants. But it is a simple dish that can be prepared easily at home. The preferred fish for this dish is grouper fillet because there aren’t any fine bones embedded in the flesh of this fish, which makes the preparation so much more convenient.
The other options are the snakehead varieties of either toman or haruan, which offer especially tender fillets and sweet flesh.
One of the ways to get bigger slices of fish is to cut them into butterfly slices. The method is to place the fish skin side down on the cutting board. Then, cut the first slice but not all the way through, before cutting the second slice until detached. This way, the two slices will be attached along the skin and can be spread out into a larger slice.
Marinating the fish slices with corn starch helps keep the fish smooth, but this will make the slices stick to each other. So when flash-frying, be sure to toss in each slice separately so that you don’t end up with a big mass of fish in the pan.
Flash-frying is a common method in Chinese cooking for cooking meat and fish so that the flesh remains soft and smooth. Also called velveting, it briefly coats the meat in hot oil so that the outer surface is cooked to seal in the juices inside. It is cooked only for about 30 seconds, then removed from the hot oil and drained on a wire strainer to get rid of the excess oil.
Be sure to clean the pan before you start sautéing the aromatics or the bits will burn in the hot oil. I like to separate the scallion whites to sauté at the start of the stir-fry and add the scallion greens at the end of the cooking to keep them from turning yellow.
You may add shaoxing wine to deglaze just after returning the fish to the pan, or a splash of water to create gravy with the seasonings. You may also add about one teaspoon of cornstarch to the water but it is really not necessary although it gives the dish a glossy finish. The dish is ready when it comes to a simmer, so dish out immediately and serve hot with steamed rice.
Recipe Ingredient
- Ingredient
- 450g grouper fillet
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 15g garlic, sliced
- 80g ginger, sliced
- 80g scallions, separated into whites and greens
- 1 cup cooking oil
- Seasoning
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Cut the fish into butterfly slices. Marinate fish slices with sesame oil, light soy sauce, pepper and cornstarch for about 10-15 minutes.
- Flash-fry fish slices in one cup of oil for about 30 seconds, then remove and drain off excess oil on a wire strainer.
- Clean the pan and heat 2 tablespoons of oil to stir-fry sliced ginger until fragrant. Add scallion whites and sliced garlic and saute until slightly wilted.
- Return flash-fried fish slices to the pan and stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
- Add seasoning and a splash of water to simmer for another 2 minutes. Toss in scallion greens and stir until combined, then dish out to serve immediately with steamed rice.
