Thai-Style Whole Fried Fish

The first time I had a fried whole fish was actually at a Vietnamese restaurant. Our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in a nearby town actually closed a few years ago, but not due to unpopularity; rather, we heard a developer bought the plot of land. Anyway, we'd been dining in rather often, always getting the same few dishes: pho, bun bo hue, and spring rolls. But one day, we saw a family sharing a meal and they'd ordered this amazing looking fish smothered in some kind of red-tinted sauce and I was sold. We hadn't put in our order yet so when the server came to our table, we asked her to please bring us that same fish dish. Life was different from then on; okay, so that's pretty dramatic but it's true. Now, whenever there's a chance to order whole fish, we do.

I make a Thai-style grilled whole fish that was inspired by a meal at Kalaya in Philly but I wanted to combine the simple gingery, oniony, smothering sauce concept with the fried fish that I loved from our favorite Vietnamese spot and this dish was born.

Ingredients [serves 4]:
whole fish (like snapper or bronzino)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup potato starch
¼ cup canola oil
½ onion, sliced
½" knob ginger, finely julienned
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 scallions, sliced

Score the fish with some criss-cross hatches. This adds more surface area for the breading to cling to and gives the fish more crispy crunchy edges.

Dust the surface of the fish liberally with potato starch.

Heat a large skillet with enough oil to coat the surface and fry the fish on both sides for 5 to 7 minutes on each side until the fish is tender and cooked through and the breading is golden brown.

Chop up some onion, ginger, and garlic and fry in the leftover oil in the same pan as the fish until the onion is lightly golden and the garlic is toasted. Separately slice the scallion into thin rounds.

Smother the fish in the cooked alliums and then sprinkle with scallions; it's ready to serve.

We had our fish with kee mao (except lately we've been using fresh noodles which are so much better than dry) and sauteed yu choi. I love the textural contrast of the crispy fish skin with the tender flesh of the skin. It's so simple but delicious. The sweet onions, spicy ginger, and savory garlic are the perfect accompaniment.

Here's the recipe page: