I love fish, but I don’t eat enough of them here in the United States; I can hardly find the ones I love most.
Growing up in Malaysia, fresh fish is abundant. There are all kinds of fish available in the wet market–big, small, tiny, deep-sea, or fresh water. I prefer smaller and tiny fish, deep-fried to crispy goodness that I can just eat the whole fish with bones. If you’ve tried those, you know how great they are.
Recently, I found a bucket of small red cod on sale. Each of them was about 6-8 oz. If you read my steamed fish recipe, you’ll know that I love red cod. Without any hesitation, I got a couple of them and made fried fish with soy sauce–one of the simplest recipes for fried fish, but super delicious especially when you drench the ginger soy sauce with steamed white rice…mmm heavenly…
If you are tired of plain old fried fish with salt, try my fried fish with soy sauce recipe. I bet you will love it.
Now, what fish do you like?
(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!)
Ingredients:
1 lb. fish
2-inch ginger (peeled, cut into thin strips)
1 stalk scallion (cut into 2-inch length and then into thin strips)
Oil for deep frying
Soy Sauce Mixture:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
4 tablespoons water
2 dashes white pepper powder
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons sugar
Method:
Remove scales, gills, and clean the fish thoroughly. Pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce mixture and set aside.
Heat up a big wok with enough oil to deep fry the fish, or use a deep fryer. Deep fry the fish until golden brown and crispy. Transfer out to a serving plate.
In a wok, add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. When it’s hot, stir-fry the ginger strips until golden brown and transfer out. Using the same oil, add the soy sauce mixture until it boils. Pour the soy sauce over the fish and garnish with the fried ginger strips and scallions. Serve immediately with steamed white rice.
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds delicious! I’d love to try this if I can find the right kind of fish.
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I want to know if your fish sticks to the wok… mine always does. Still recall sage advice (or should it be advise?) from mum, never move the fish when one if wok frying or it’ll break into pieces….
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Young Werther - do you use a non-stick wok? Just make sure your wok is super hot before you drop the fish into the wok before frying. Another tip is to pat dry the fish with paper towels and then oil the fish before you fry so they don’t stick easily. I use deep fryer now so I hardly have the sticking problem.
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would still prefer this steamed..but fried fish with rice sounds very good too!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Lots of Craving - I love fried fish equally, I guess sometimes it depends on the fish. Some fish is great and very “hiong” (aromatic) when deep-fried.
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what fish is this? looks so skinny.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Foodbin - it’s baby red cod.
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i love yr receipt, i’am staying in penang n notice this blog from the intervies btw u and kwong wah. well done !
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Dorothy - thanks for visiting my blog. :)
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that skinny fish can’t be cod right?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Calvary Zone - it is red cod, baby red cod. It has a big head and the body is slim and long. ;)
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I don’t eat enough fish over here too.. always love fish!!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
LM - yeah, it really sucks. I am not a big fan of the “western” kind of fish, you know what I mean. I miss my little ikan kembong, little yellow tail fish….
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yng replied:
ya! the western kind of fishes are fillets, thick and meaty… i like normal msia fish, skinnier, with skin and bones!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
YNG - the only fish we can do so here in California is sole. But it can never compare to fish from home.
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Some of my most transcendant fish experiences have been with fish cooked in exactly this way!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Laura - exactly, little fried fish in simple soy sauce. Yum!
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When u mentioned small little fish fried till we can consume all the bones, that reminds me of ‘cai yu’ which is what my mum n grandma calls it. It’s really tedious cleaning them up because they’re so small and cute.
Definitely miss those. I can take about 5-6 easily even after all my rice is gone.
Fried cod fish is awesome but not that cheap in Malaysia. Envy you for getting so many cheap cod fishes. They’re sweeeettt..
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Hi Audrey - not sure what “cai yu” is. Yeah, small fish is hard to clean but you can eat the whole thing. Hehe. ;)
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What is a good fish to fry? I live in the US too. I frequent our local farmer’s market and there is tons of selection! But never move out of my comfort zone to try any. Yes, btw what fish is this? Usually husband will get cod (for dinners) or mahi mahi (when we are at the restaurants; we had it in Hawaii and they were really sweet and yummy)!
Thanks for the recipe!!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Valerie - For the US, I find pomfret a great fish to fry and this recipe works great with pomfret. You can get them frozen at Asian markets, and they taste great. One of my favorite fish. This fish is baby red cod or called “idiot” fish. They have big head and eyes! ;)
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I’m with you on not eating enough fish here. This looks great! Are the tails and fins crispy?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Marc - correct, I miss fish sometimes. Yes, the tails and fins are crispy. I love baby red cod.
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This recipe is nostalgic & brings me back to memory lane when I was only 5 in Penang Hye Keat Estate. Year 1965!!! Besdes red cod & pomfret, what other fish can I try with your recipe in Singapore?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Daniel - most smaller fish, less than 1 lb that we use for frying should be good with this recipe. All kind of cods, pomfrets, etc.
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My favourite fish dish!!
I love small fish too, used to have deep-fried little fish as snack when I was kid. Went back to my hometown (Kuala Selangor) 2 weeks ago, brought back lots of small fish. Those were from my fisherman uncle, frozen them then packed in foam box with ice cubes. They stayed frozen after 5 hours drive from KS to Penang.
cheers,
Lydia
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
My Kitchen - I am jealous! I’ve heard much about KS and fish. I definitely need to ask my friends to take me there next time I am in KL. Enjoy your bounty of catches!
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I live in Vancouver Island so we’re supposed to have good fish…. but we don’t! That really ticks me off. I love fish, I’d much rather eat fish than meat. I am originally from the Philippines and pan fried crispy fish is a popular lunch or dinner item. Here, I’m reduced to fish and chips, what sacrilege, fried fish should be eaten with rice lol! Your crispy fried fish looks very yummy the sauce reminds of Kylie Kwong’s recipe.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Chowhound - no good fish in Vancouver Island, seriously? Not at all or just different type of fish?
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Chowhound replied:
We have salmon and halibut then the occasional cod and ahi tuna… they’re cut in fillets usually and the real good ones are only available at certain parts of the year (halibut is in season right now). They’re really meaty though and kind of oilier too. I like the medium-sized grouper or that baby cod you have on the picture, because then you can fry it and make it kind of crisp… yum!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Chowhound - I see. You get some good fish but not the ones you can try simply with Chinese recipes such as steaming or frying.
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Hi Bee, huge fan of your work here including the lovely photos.
Wondrin’ what camera you use to give the photos such ‘pro’ appearance :)
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
HeadToToe - thank you for the compliments. I am using Canon XT DSLR.
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Ordering fish outside is so expensive and it’s nice to be able to whip this up at home, especially if it looks as fantastic as yours ;p
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I am sure it’s even better with your kitchen skills, too!
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Some small Chinese roadside restaurants in KL still serve this kind of simple dishes !
Fried ma yau fish with sauce. cheap & good
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I remember some variations to this recipe in many “chap fan” stalls. Good old times in KL.
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The American south has rivers full of “Asian Carp”, considered an invasive species - Can they be eaten? Do we lack only the proper preparation methods and recipes to turn this seeming ecological disaster into a High protein bonanza?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Uncle B - I wouldn’t dare claiming expert in wild catch besides the ones I find in the comfort of FDA approved grocery stores. Please do verify these Asian carp with experts before you attempt any cooking and eating of your catch.
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where exactly are the recipes?????? they all talk about what to look for but doesnt include the steps or the amount one has to use for the chinese recipes
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
The fish recipe is at the bottom of the page!
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Where did you get this fish from? It looks rather skinny but if you were attacking the bones, then it would have served the purpose :P
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Got it from the Soon Huat grocery store in Rowland Heights. Remember those big eyed big headed red fish? These were smaller sizes they had in store that day. Lucky me and yes we attacked down to the bones :) Yummy!
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hi, what does the shaoxing wine do and is thee any substitute for it?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
It gives a certain taste to the fish and it rids it of potential fishy taste, but it’s optional.
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Any recommendations for fishes to be used with this in Australia?
There are no wet market and it’s so difficult to find a whole fish for cooking here!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I am not familiar with fish in Australia but you can try groupa.
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Any recommendations to substitute the Shaoxing wine to any other sauces.since I’m a muslim that loves chinese foods i find it difficult to follow most of the recipes.kindly in future put a note for us to substitute the sauces in your new recipes ok.
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