1. Home
  2. Meat & Fish
  3. Other fish
  4. Fillet
  5. Pan-frying

Garlic pepper fish

Curries With Bumbi · ♥ 13K likes · 902.5K views · 9 min video

Read about fillet in the BrightCulinary Book

Garlic pepper fish, from the video Makes 6
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
  • 25 g garlic
  • 1 whole green chilli
  • 20 g ginger
  • 425 g boneless skinless tilapia fillets
  • 450 g bell peppers
  • 220 g onions
▶ 0:00
  • ¼ tsp salt
Pound the garlic, green chilli, ginger, salt and black peppercorns to a coarse paste in a mortar and pestle.
Pounding the aromaticsGrinding
▶ 0:35
  • ½ tsp black peppercorns
Cut the fish into medium pieces.
Coating the fish
▶ 0:58
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp ground garlic and ginger
  • 4 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 whole eggs
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
Add the lemon juice, a heaped teaspoon of the garlic-ginger paste, the cornstarch, flour, eggs and salt and mix; if runny add more cornstarch, never more flour. Let sit during the other prep.
▶ 1:45
  • 1 tbsp regular soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp mushroom sauce
  • 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
  • 1 tbsp hot sauce
  • 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
Mix the soy sauces, mushroom sauce, sweet chili sauce, hot sauce, ketchup, sugar, water and sesame oil for the sauce.
Mixing the sauce
▶ 2:43
  • 1½ tbsp cornstarch
  • 3 tbsp room temperature water
Mix the cornstarch with the water until dissolved for the slurry.
Cornstarch slurry
▶ 2:57
  • ½ inch cinnamon stick
  • 2 petals star anise
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
Stir the cinnamon, star anise petals and fennel seeds in a pan over medium-low until fragrant, without letting the fennel go dark brown; grind to a fine powder.
Toasting and grinding the spice powderToasting
▶ 3:41
  • oil
Heat oil for shallow frying, lower to medium and add the fish in batches without crowding; the oil should be hot but not smoking.
▶ 4:40
Leave a few minutes for the coating to set before turning; turn when light brown shows at the sides, using a splatter screen but never a lid. Fry until golden brown and drain on a wire rack.
Shallow frying without losing the coatingFryingRead
▶ 5:33
Coat some chopped bell pepper in the leftover batter and fry it too.
Using leftover batter and reusing the oilStraining
▶ 6:09
Strain the frying oil through a tea strainer; it keeps refrigerated 2 to 3 days for frying fish.
▶ 6:25
  • 2 tbsp oil
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium high; stir the chopped onions a minute, then the garlic-ginger paste a minute.
Stir-frying onions and bell peppersSeasoningRead
▶ 6:45
  • salt
  • freshly cracked black pepper
Add the bell peppers, a pinch of salt and black pepper and stir on high a few minutes until starting to soften but still a little crunchy.
▶ 7:41
Add the remaining onions, cut like the peppers, and fry 2 minutes.
▶ 8:00
  • ⅓ cup water
Add the sauce on medium high and let it bubble; add the spice powder and another third cup of water.
Sauce, spice powder and thickening
▶ 8:19
Stir in slurry to the thickness wanted (about a tablespoon here), loosen with a splash of water if needed, and let bubble.
▶ 8:37
  • water
  • fresh green chilies
  • coriander leaves
Add the fried fish, mix and switch off the heat; add chopped green chilies and coriander leaves. Serve with steamed rice, noodles or pasta.