Sweet & Sour Fish Fingers and Quick Tip on Green Onion Leek Storage

This dish is one of the staple dishes in our household. You can do this with chicken or pork too or even with any fish you prefer (just read the notes below).

And by the way, I strongly recommend that you don’t skip the pineapple part, when you try it, you’ll know what I’m talking about and you’ll never skip that part again 😉

INGREDIENTS

Fish Fingers

• 700g fish fillet, cut into finger size or smaller seasoned with lemon, salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper (or a pinch of magic sarap)
• oil for frying

Veggies

• 1 small onion, sliced thinly
• 2 small carrots, cut into strips
• 1 green bellpepper (or red), cut into strips
• 1 cup pineapple chunks, cut into smaller pieces
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp, chopped green onion leeks

Sauce

• 1 cup pineapple syrup
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp ketchup (preferrably banana ketchup)
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tsp cornstarch

PROCEDURE

Prepare the Fish Fingers

1. Preheat pan with oil for deep frying. Click here for tips on Deep Frying.
2. Prepare plate line with paper towels, set aside.
3. Clean and season the fish with lemon, salt and pepper. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
4. In a small bowl, combine egg, flours and seasonings. Mix until combined. If you find the the batter too thick, thin the batter with 1 tbsp cold water.
5. Mix the fish fingers with the batter and deep fry until golden. Transfer to the plate with paper towels and set aside.

Prepare the Sauce and Veggies

1. In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the sauce. Make sure to mix until the cornstarch has dissolved. You may taste and season.
2. Preheat wok (or pan with high sides) on medium heat, fry pineapple chunks until the sides has browned (a little) around 6 minutes. Gather the pineapple chunks and put on the side of the pan.
3. Add 1 tbsp oil, let the oil heat before frying the carrots, then add bell peppers, and lastly, the onion. Fry them all until fragrant. Transfer 3/4 of the veggies into a plate and set aside. Turn heat on low.
4. Pour the sauce on the pan with the 1/4 remaining veggies, stir and bring to boil.
5. Turn the heat on high. Add the fish, make sure to coat the fish evenly, then add the veggies on the plate you reserved. Stir, then bring to boil and top with chopped green onion leeks. Turn heat on low. Adjust the taste of course. Cover and let simmer for 30 seconds and turn off heat.

Serve with hot rice, enjoy!

NOTES

You can use any fish you prefer, hamour, dory, or even tilapia fillets. In case you feel lazy preparing fish fingers, and you have small to medium sized fish like tilapia, grouper or snapper even tuna, all you have to do is fry the whole fish until golden and top it with the sauce 😉

I’d like to share with you this tip I learned about green onion leeks. I’m not sure about the practice in your area’s market, but here in KSA, unlike in Philippines where you can buy the leeks depending on how much you need, here, you can only buy the leeks per bundle, which is waaaay too much for a single cooking, say it can weigh more than 100g per bundle. So, to avoid wasting such amount of leeks and some money too, here’s what I do ;

Clean the leeks. Chop and put into a freezer safe container like a cheese shaker (or any container that will fit your freezer) and put in freezer. Get some when needed. This way, aside from having leeks anytime you need it, you will also save some money and avoid waste 🙂

Reminder

also, do not thaw too long or it will melt and won’t be usable anymore.

Have nice day 😉

Thanks to Yummy Magazine