Fish with sweet & sour sauce is wildly popular in most Malaysian restaurants. It is almost always made with seafood ( there are variations made with boneless chicken). I had this dish made with crabs a few days ago at Green View Restaurant in Petaling Jaya. Steaming the fish would be another option is you are not inclined to heat a wok full of oil.
I have used red snapper for this recipe but any firm fleshed fish would work here. Black pomfret is popular fish of choice for this dish in Malaysia. Don't be alarmed by the use of ketchup/tomato sauce in this recipe. It is an essential ingredient for sweet sour sauce.
Red Snapper In Sweet & Sour Sauce
1 whole red snapper
1/4 cup corn flour
oil - for shallow frying
2 tb ketchup/tomato sauce
3 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste
2 cloves garlic - sliced
2 tb julienned ginger
1 tb hoisin sauce
1/2 cup water
2 scallion - julienned
1 1/2 tb vegetable oil
1/2 red bell pepper - julienned
Clean fish and pat dry. Sprinkle salt and lightly dust whole fish with corn flour.
Heat oil in a large saute pan and shallow fry fish on both sides until golden brown.
Remove fish from pan/wok and set on a platter.
Heat oil for sauce and saute sliced garlic and ginger until golden brown. Pour in water, hoisin sauce, tomato sauce/ketchup, sugar and vinegar. Adjust seasonings and add salt as needed. Add in julienned red pepper and cook on high heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture thickens. Pour sauce over fish and scatter scallions. Serve immediately. This dish goes well with steamed rice, tofu with garlic chives and bok choy with shiitake mushrooms.