🇨🇳 Chinese Cuisine

松鼠鳜鱼 (Song Shu Gui Yu)

Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish

Prep Time 60 minutes

Servings 4

Difficulty Hard

A spectacular Jiangsu banquet dish where a whole mandarin fish is scored in a crosshatch pattern, deep-fried until the flesh fans out like a squirrel tail, and topped with a sweet and sour sauce.

Ingredients

1 whole mandarin fish about 700g
Cornstarch for coating
Oil for deep frying
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon black vinegar
Pine nuts
Peas and diced carrot
Shrimp optional

Instructions

1 Debone the fish from the back, keeping head and tail intact.
2 Score the flesh in a deep crosshatch diamond pattern.
3 Coat thoroughly in cornstarch and deep fry at 190C until flesh fans open.
4 Make sauce with ketchup, sugar, vinegar, and stir-fried vegetables.
5 Pour the sizzling sauce over the fish at the table for dramatic presentation.

Did You Know?

The sizzling sound when the sauce hits the fried fish is said to resemble a squirrel chattering, giving the dish its name.