Sweet and Sour Lapu – lapu

Sweet and Sour Lapu – lapu is now a staple dish in our home. A month would not let by without sweet and sour dish on our table. So why is that? The simple answer is it’s very simple to prepare. Simply fried the fish and have the sauce ready and you are good to go.

Another thing about sweet and sour lapu – lapu is how a simple sauce of sweet and sour can make a regular fried fish extra special. Basically you can use any kind of fish. However, we regularly use the pink lapu -lapu, gray lapu – lapu and tilapia.

Lapu – lapu belongs to the grouper fish family. If we have a budget we go for the pink lapu – lapu. The gray lapu – lapu is not as expensive as the pink one. And when we are in a tight budget the really affordable tilapia will suffice.

So what’s with sweet and sour? We Filipinos love complex flavors. This dish gives that all. We have a sweetness that every Filipinos love. The savory flavor from the fried fish and the sourness from vinegar. Filipinos another trademark is our love for vinegar. Take adobo and paksiw for examples.

For the fried fish, drenching the fish into a flour mixture really give the fish additional texture. The best flour to use is potato flour, however, the first thing I grabbed was the all purpose flour and I’m too lazy to look for the potato flour. Some use cornstarch which is totally okay.

If you don’t like ketchup in your sweet and sour fish you can check out my Crispy Sweet and Sour Fish Recipe for the ketchup – free version.

Ingredients

Fried Fish

1 kg	Lapu – lapu, cleaned
	Salt
	Ground Black Pepper
1 cup	Flour
	Salt
	Ground Black Pepper
	Oil for deep frying

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 cup	Water
2 pieces	Thumb – sized Ginger, grated
6 cloves	Garlic, roughly chopped
1 bulb	Onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup	Vinegar
1/4 cup	Tomato Ketchup
1/4 cup	Pineapple Juice
1/4 cup	Oyster Sauce
6 Tablespoons	Brown Sugar
	Salt
	Ground Black Pepper
1 piece	Carrot, thinly sliced
1 piece	Green Bell Pepper, thinly sliced
1 bulb	Onion, thinly sliced

Procedure

Fried Fish

Thoroughly clean the Lapu – lapu and pat dry. Cut into desired pieces.

Lightly season the fish with salt and pepper.

Combine flour, salt and black pepper. Drench the fish into the flour mixture and set a side for 15 minutes.

Heat oil into medium low and deep fry the fish until golden brown. Drain excess oil and set a side.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Combine water, ginger, garlic, onion, vinegar, ketchup, pineapple juice, oyster sauce and brown sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add carrots and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add the green bell pepper and simmer for another 3 minutes.

Pour the sauce oven the fried fish and garnish with sliced onion. Alternatively, place the sauce in a separate bowl and garnish with the sliced onion.