Frankly speaking, I'm not a fan of the taste and texture of farm raised snapper. It can be bland and a little too tough for my preference. However, these characteristics made it an ideal ingredient for heavy seasoning dishes, such as Chinese sweet and sour sauce.
No ketchup needed sweet and sour snapper -
Ingredients?
- 2 medium sized snapper fillets
- 1/2 onion
- Some olive oil
- Some corn starch
- Some salt
- Some chopped cilantro
Marinade -
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine
- 1/8 teaspoon grated ginger
- Tiny pinch salt
Sauce -
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon black vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
How?
Cut the fish fillet into large bite size pieces. Mix all the ingredients under the "marinade" section and transfer the fish over. Marinate for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and slice the onion. Grate the ginger and chop some cilantro.
After marinating the fish, pour some corn starch onto a plate and coat the snapper piece by piece with it. Gently shake the fish to remove excess corn starch.
Drizzle some olive oil to the pan, the amount used should be more than simply coat the bottom, about 4 to 5 tablespoons. Turn to high heat and wait till the oil gets hot. Carefully add in the fish one by one and sear till slightly golden.
Line a dish with kitchen towel and transfer the fried fish over. The kitchen towel will absorb extra oil dripping.
Scoop out some oil and just save about 1 to two tablespoons in the same pan. Add in the onion along with a tiny pinch of salt. Sear till the onion turns translucent.
Mix all the "sauce" ingredients and pour to the pan. Bring to a boil then lower the heat just a bit, continue to cook for 30 seconds or so.
Transfer the fried snapper back to the pan and cook for another 30 seconds or so.
Mix some corn starch with small amount of water as thickening agent. Pour this corn starch water to the pan and gently stirring the sauce at the same time to prevent lumps. Cook till the sauce turns gooey. You might want to add just a little bit of corn starch water mixture at a time in case the whole thing turns to one lumpy mess. Gradually add the thickening agent till the sauce reaches desired texture.
The corn starch dusted on the fish earlier and the corn starch added to the sauce in the end should bind together nicely. Slightly crunch on the edges, but mostly help binding with gooey seasonings. In the end, the sweet and sour snapper should all be coated with thick and flavorful sauce, neither watery nor soupy. Garnish with chopped cilantro right before serving.
Even though I'm not a fan of such fish, but with no ketchup used sweet and sour sauce, that I can do.
Some other fish related recipes:
Beef with red wine, this combo can never go wrong, but how about changing gear and use allspice in beef stew instead? It's more of an old-fashioned style beef stew. The basic aromatics are the same, but instead of red wine, allspice and Worcestershire came into the picture to help boosting the flavors.
Also by choosing a more tender cut of beef, fork tender beef stew can be done in one hour. Layers of flavors are not sacrificed, still delicious, and still comforting.
Allspice beef stew -
Ingredients?
- 2 lbs beef (use more tender cut to speedy up cooking time)
- 2 1/2 cups cubed celery
- 1 1/2 cups peeled, cubed carrot
- 1 medium onion
- 1 can onion soup
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
How?
Peel and cube the carrot, peel and cube the onion, cube the celery, peel and slice the garlic cloves. Cut the beef into large bite size pieces.
Instead of searing the beef first, scooping it out, then searing the aromatics, this is going to be a one seamless deal. Cooking the aromatics first then add the beef straight into the pot, the end result is still fulfilling for both body and mind. Trust me, after devouring the whole pot, rest assured that the beef stew is irresistible.
Drizzle some oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pot and turn to medium high heat. Add in cubed onion along with salt and pepper.
Cook till the onion turns translucent then add in the celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook for couple more minutes.
Add in beef and sear for couple more minutes.
Pour in onion soup and chicken stock. Also add allspice, smoked paprika, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaf.
Mix well, also turn to high heat to bring the pot to a boil. Skim off the foamy bits flowing on top then lower the heat a little to keep it simmering/light bubbling. Cover with lid and let it simmer till the juice has been significantly reduced but not completely dried up. The color will also get darker and more condensed over time. It took me about one hour and still left with some juice to drizzle over rice or pasta.
Pick out bay leaf when ready to serve. Plate and garnish with some celery leaves.
I took a sneaky sip early on and the taste of allspice was overpowering. Don't be scared, after one hour, all the aroma blended in smoothly. You probably won't even notice that allspice was used for this beef stew.
Serve it with some mashed potatoes or mix it with pasta. I served the beef stew with some rice instead, hands down it was the best dish of the night, perhaps of the month?
Going the French route? Try this beef recipe instead:
