

(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!)
Please meet Piggy at Piggy’s Cooking Journal–a beautiful food blog that I absolutely adore and constantly drool over.
A fellow Malaysian–from my hometown Penang–Piggy cooks, bakes, and writes about Asian food and other good eats. Please welcome her as a guest writer on Rasa Malaysia with the following serving of sweet and sour fish. Yum!
Most of my friends do not cook as they find that cooking is a chore rather than an activity they’d enjoy. They are always bewildered that I am willing to put in a lot of effort to cook, even when I’m dining alone at home.
Contrary to what these friends may think, I usually do not spend long tedious hours in the kitchen. I do, occasionally, whip up some complicated dishes but that might not be something I’d like to do everyday.
Just like the others, I do have those moments when I just don’t feel like doing anything at all.
But no matter how unwilling I am to cook, I still need to eat, especially after eating similar dishes for several days. That’s when I turn to my piles of cookbooks and look for the simple yet satisfying recipes to try out.
Over time, I have gathered quite a long list of recipes that I would take out from time to time when I want to have a yummy home cooked meal in the shortest time.
Over the weekend, I’ve just added one more such recipe to my list of “simple and satisfying” dishes.
The sweet and sour fish only took me less than 45 minutes, from wok to tummy, including cleaning up the dishes and oh, that also included the several minutes of photo taking at leisurely pace. This sweet and sour fish dish is that simple and yet it left me gastronomically satisfied. Find it hard to believe? Well, give the following sweet and sour fish recipe a try then!
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 17 calories per serving.
What to Serve with This Recipe?
Serve this dish with other Malaysian dishes. For a Malaysia meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
5 Secrets to 20 Min Dinners
Get tricks for quick & easy meals!
Sweet and Sour Fish

This sweet and sour fish dish is that simple and yet it left me gastronomically satisfied. Find it hard to believe? Well, give the following sweet and sour fish recipe a try then!
Ingredients
- 1 whole fish, about 400 g
Gravy:
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon preserved soy bean paste, tau cheo
- 100 ml water
- 4 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 red chilli, finely pounded
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- sugar, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon corn starch, mix with 2 tablespoons of water
Garnishing:
- coriander leaves
Instructions
- Clean the fish, wash and drain. Steam the fish until cooked, about 8 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- To prepare the gravy, heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok. Add onion and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, or until soft.
- Add preserved soy bean paste and stir-fry until fragrant.
- Add water, tomato sauce, pounded chilli, light soy sauce and sugar. Bring to a slow boil.
- Add cornstarch solution and stir quickly for a few more minutes.
- Pour the gravy over the steamed fish. Garnish with coriander leaves, serve.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
4 peopleAmount Per Serving Calories 17Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 1mgSodium 333mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 1gSugar 2gProtein 1g
Deidre Leonard
Hi, can i omit the soy bean paste?
christel
Hey,
what kind of tomato sauce do you use ? diced tomatoes from a can ?
Rasa Malaysia
Ketchup.
Huey Peng
hii may i know which type of fish is suitable for this recipe ya?
Rasa Malaysia
Any fish which is medium firm.
Cathy L.Muncy
Hello RM, I’m looking for a recipe that has beef, ginger and fish sauce with noodles or sobi noodles. My husbands friend’s wife made it for him awhile back , “they are no longer together “. and I would like to find this recipe to make for my husband. I hope that I have given you enough ingredients for the recipe . We have enjoyed all of the dishes that we have made from your site . Thank you for your great web site .
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Cathy, hmm, why don’t you try ginger and scallion beef on my website and serve it with soba noodles. I think you will like it. https://rasamalaysia.com/ginger-and-scallion-beef/
Lareina
Hi, what fish is best for this dish? I have access to Asian markets in Singapore.