I got this recipe from my Mum’s 1970s book titled “A Basic Course in Home Management” by Lilian Tan and P. Visvalingam. Since I don’t use vinegar, I just omitted it. I also added chopped tomatoes to the recipe. The fish still came out tasty and the gravy was nice to accompany white rice.
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 fish
1 tsp of flour mixed with a little pepper and salt
1/4 pt of water
1/2 tsp cornflour or tapioca flour
Sauce
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp thin soya sauce
1 dessertspoonful of tomato sauce
1 tsp of chilli sauce (optional)
salt to taste and pepper
1. Dust the fish with the seasoned flour.
2. Although the recipe calls for crisy, deep-fried fish, I only fried it till a light golden brown as I wanted to retain the fish’ tenderness. Drain well and place the fish on a dish.
3. To prepare the sauce: mix the water, sugar, pepper, soya sauce, tomato sauce and chilli sauce (if applicable) together in a saucepan and bring the mixture to the boil. Add the chopped tomatoes and let them soften a bit.
4. Blend the cornflour with a tablespoonful of water and add it to the boiling liquid mixture.
5. Stir continuously for a minute and remove the saucepan from the heat. Pour the mixture over the fried fish. Garnish with spring onions.
