Classic Braised Ribbon Fish--with Lots of Step by Step Pictures

It is all about balancing your taste buds. Mainly there are four flavors in this dish, spicy, sour, sweet, and savory. All of these flavors are quite strong, however if there are together in a balance, it creates a prefect dish. It really does not matter it is fish, or chicken or even vegetables.

The cooked fish is in prefect red color, but there is no food color or soy sauce used. The actual red color is coming from the caramelized sugar, which is another classic technique used in Chinese cooking. I learned it from my father.




Ingredients:
2 pieces ribbon fish, cleaned and cut into squares
Big green onions, only use white part
one piece ginger, sliced
5 cloves of garlic
few dry chili pepper
2 tablespoon Chinese dumpling vinegar or balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon salt or to your taste
1 table spoon cooking wine
vegetable cooking oil
1 tablespoon corn starch

Steps:
1. Used a big bowl, marinade fish with cooking wine and salt for 30 minutes.



2. Heat up oil in a non-sticky pan, high heat. Then drop some corn starch onto fish to further prevent stickiness.


3. stir the fish and spread the corn starch evenly.


4. shallow fry the fish with a little bit oil.


5. While fish is in the pan, prepare ginger, garlic and green onions.


6. when both sides of the fish is golden brown, take them from the pan.


7. Use the same pan, high heat, add more oil. While the oil is cold add 1 tablespoon sugar. When the sugar is bubbling and turning light brown color, it is the prefect time, one second late, the dish will become dark brown color instead of prefect red.


8. Add ginger, red pepper and garlic, stir till fragrant.


9. Add fried fish, gently stir till each piece is coated with the carbonized sugar.


10. Add 1 cup boiled water, and vinegar, another tablespoon of sugar, salt. Simmer 5 minutes. Add green onions.Then turn heat on high, let the liquid dry out.


Enjoy!


There are also home made pickles to go with the fish.


I will write a post on how to make pickles later.