Main Ingredients:
Yellow Croaker: 2 fish; Ginger: 1 piece; Scallions: 2 stalks; Flour: half bowl; Thirteen Spices: 3 grams.
Additional Ingredients:
Golden Dragon Sunflower Oil: as needed; Soy Sauce: 2 tablespoons; Salt: 5 grams; Small Chili Pepper: 1.
Taste: Savory; Cooking Method: Deep-Frying; Time: One hour; Difficulty: Advanced.
Detailed Steps for Cooking Deep-Fried Yellow Croaker
Prepare the ingredients.
When buying the yellow croaker at the market, ask the seller to pre-treat it with salt. This will allow the fish to marinate and stay fresh until you are ready to cook it. Clean the yellow croaker and pat dry excess moisture with kitchen paper towels.
Make diagonal cuts on both sides of the fish for better flavor absorption and easier coating with the batter.
Wash the scallions and ginger, slice the ginger into shreds and press it with the back of a knife to release the juice. Cut the scallions into sections and marinate the yellow croaker with the ginger and scallions. Stuff some ginger and scallions inside the fish as well. Save the marinated ginger and scallions for later to make a soy sauce dressing to pour over the fish.
In a large bowl, mix flour with water to make a thick batter. Add some Thirteen Spices to the batter. Since the fish was pre-treated with salt and will be topped with soy sauce later, there is no need to add more salt to the batter.
Roll the yellow croaker in the batter until evenly coated, shaking off any excess batter into a bowl.
Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot and bubbles form around the fish, reduce the heat and fry the fish for about 15 minutes. Do not flip the fish until the batter has set, to prevent it from falling off.
When the fish floats to the surface, indicating it is almost cooked, flip it over and fry for another 5 minutes on high heat to release excess moisture and oil from the fish.
Fry until both sides are golden brown, then quickly remove the yellow croaker and pat dry excess oil with kitchen paper towels.
Pour out the cooking oil, add the marinated ginger and scallions to the pan, stir-fry until fragrant, then add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and bring to a boil.
Strain out the cooked ginger and scallions and discard them, leaving only the fragrant sauce.
Sprinkle some chopped scallions and red chili pepper on top of the fish for garnish, then drizzle the hot sauce over the fish.
Clean up the oil splatters on the stove with a damp paper towel, making cleanup easy and efficient.
Crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, incredibly delicious!
