Basic Braised Soy Fish

Instructions:

1. Have fish cleaned and scaled, but left whole. Rinse in cold water. Dry well, inside and out, with paper toweling and score on both sides. 2. Sprinkle fish with the salt and let stand 10 minutes. Then coat lightly with flour. 3. Mince ginger root and scallions; then combine with water, soy sauce, sherry, sugar and remaining salt. 4. Heat oil in a heavy pan until nearly smoking. Gently lower in fish; fry over high heat 1 minute on each side, then over medium heat 2-1/2 minutes on each side. Baste continually with hot oil. (To turn fish over, loosen it with the back of a spatula and turn gently. The pan may be removed temporarily from the burner while the fish is being turned.) 5. Pour ginger-scallion mixture over fish and bring quickly to a boil. Then cook, covered, over medium heat until done (15 to 20 minutes), turning fish halfway through cooking. Serving Size: 4

NOTE: Braised soy fish is good served hot or cold. It may be prepared in quantity and served cold as a side dish or with drinks. (Its sauce is delicious when jellied.) Braised fish may also be browned in advance, then cooked in sauce, as in step 5, just before serving. Once its completely cooked, however, it should never be reheated.

VARIATIONS: 1. For the water, substitute stock. 2. For the white sugar, substitute brown sugar. 3. In step 2, omit the salt and rub fish lightly with soy sauce before coating with flour. 4. In step 3, add to the sauce mixture any or all of the following: 2 tablespoons smoked ham, minced; 1 celery stalk, minced; few drops of sesame oil or vinegar. 5. During the last few minutes of cooking, add 1-1/2 cups fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced; or 2 cups bean curd, sliced or cubed. Cook only to heat through. From <The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook>, ISBN 0-517-65870-4. Downloaded from Glens MM Recipe Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.