Whole fish & peppers in sweet & sour sauce

Cape Town food blogger Ming-Cheau Lin shares a celebratory recipe to make for Chinese New Year

The phrase "May there be fish every year" in Mandarin is a beautiful New Year greeting. The pun is on the word "fish" that, in Mandarin, sounds like the word "surplus".

The traditional whole fish is placed so that it points at the most honoured guest, and it's said that you should always have leftover fish.

This festive holiday is celebrated all over where there are large Chinese populations, including my birth country, Taiwan.

Today, as an adult, I'm no longer based in the same city as my parents; I won't be celebrating with them this time. But, even though we aren't physically together, it's incredibly important for me to feel connected to my family and home culture, to remind myself where I came from and to celebrate the Asian side of being an "Asian South African".

Instead of going for a very traditional recipe, I based this fish on a simple recipe from my family's humble beginnings as Asian South Africans in the Free State.

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WHOLE FISH & PEPPERS IN SWEET & SOUR SAUCE

Serves: 4

Easy: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

1 whole sustainable fish (e.g. soldier fish)

1 egg white

250ml (1 cup) cornflour

Enough oil to reach a third of the fish height in the pan

Sweet and sour sauce:

1 large onion, sliced

1 green and 1 yellow pepper, seeded and sliced

30ml (2 tbsp) rice vinegar

30ml (2 tbsp) tomato sauce

250ml (1 cup) water

15ml (1 tbsp) cornflour

Salt and sugar to taste

Fresh coriander to garnish

Method:

1) Clean the fish and dry with paper towels.

2) Brush with egg white and dust with cornflour. 

3) Heat the pan, pour in the oil and reduce to medium heat. Place the fish into the hot oil (watch out, it will splatter) and fry for 4 minutes and gently turn it to fry on the other side for another 4 minutes. 

4) Place the fish over a wire rack with paper towels underneath to drain the excess oil.

5) Fry the onion and peppers in a little oil then add rice vinegar, tomato sauce and half the water and stir. Combine well.

6) Mix the cornflour with the remaining water and stir till smooth. Add to the pan and cook, stirring until it thickens. Add salt and sugar to taste.

7) Place fish on serving platter then drizzle with the sauce and garnish with fresh coriander.

• Ming-Cheau Lin's food blog is Butterfingers.co.za, where she writes about Taiwanese and Chinese recipes using local produce. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.