Fish Karaage & Chips

It can be frustrating cooking for the hubs and Lil L. The husband prefers his food doused in chillies, absolutely no Indian curries and A LOT of meat. In that order. Meanwhile, Lil L must've been a rabbit in her other life. Plenty of veggies but they must be green. No other color will do. God forbid if a chilly should pass her lips. And plenty of fish. There are only 3 in our household. Imagine having 4 kids and a hubby who all have different tastebuds! In that case, I might go on strike and the rascals can fend for themselves.

When I was living in Christchurch (New Zealand), there was a little fish and chips shop right across the street. Initially, I was very pleased to be within a stone's throw from a fast food shop. I mean what 18 year old likes to cook when there are far more exciting things to do? The only problem was the wind would blow in a certain direction. Right towards my bedroom window. For the next 4 years. Yup. Joy. Let's just say, I did not touch fish OR chips for the next decade.

I had a few fillets of tilapia and pollock in the freezer. Lil L announced that she was positively dying for fish and chips. I for one, have no idea how to make the typical English style fish and chips BUT seeing that I'm Asian, I thought I would try the Japanese version - Karaage. Here's a simple version which takes less than half an hour to jiffy up. It's even faster if you can rope in a few slaves, I mean kids to help you coat the fish cutlets. Serve with fries (I prefer McCains frozen fries) and salad. Judging by the moans of ecstasy and the rate the two scarfed down their food, I guess it was a huge hit.

We had some leftovers so I made fish sandwiches the next day. I bought half baked baguette which I shoved into the oven, slathered the hot and crunchy bread with aioli, piled the fish in and plenty of lettuce. Voila, another easy and simple lunch for the family.


Ingredients (serves 4)

500g white fish (tilapia, haddock or cod)
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
2 tablespoons of cooking sake or dry sherry or shaoxing wine
A few shakes of white pepper
A cup of cornflour
1 teaspoon (or more depending on your taste) of garlic granules (optional)
4-6 cups of sunflower oil

1. Cut the fish into small pieces (approximately 2 inches by 2 inches). Marinade the fish in light soy sauce, white pepper and wine for 5-10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, add the garlic granules into a bowl of cornflour and mix thoroughly.
3. Coat the pieces of fish in the cornflour mixture.
4. Deep fry for 5-8 minutes depending on how thick the cutlets are.