Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen30 Minutes

Sweet and Sour Fish

Name: Sweet and Sour Fish
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 300g firm white fish (cut into 1 ½ inch pieces); 1 egg white; 30g plain flour; 30g cornflour; ½ tsp salt; ⅓ tsp white pepper; 8g fresh ginger; 1 small white onion, chopped into medium chunks; ½ green pepper, chopped into medium chunks; ½ red Pepper, chopped into medium chunks; 1 carrot sliced; 100g tinned pineapple chunks; 2 tbsp of groundnut oil (or oil if your choice), and extra oil for shallow frying the fish; 1 scallion, finely chopped for garnish; Sauce:; 100ml sugar; 100ml rice vinegar; 100ml ketchup; 100ml pineapple syrup from the tinned pineapple or pineapple juice; 1 tsp potato starch/cornflour mixed with; 2 tbsp cold water

Eva PauFrom the series · Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen

30 min totalServes 2Easy

Sweet and Sour Fish

Time30 min

Serves2

SkillEasy

ShowEva Pau's Asian Kitchen

Method

Place the fish pieces into a bowl, add the egg white and season with the salt and white pepper. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together all the sauce ingredients, set aside.

Fill a medium sized wok pan with oil that reaches about 1 and ½ inch above the base. Heat it until ready to fry.

Mix the plain flour and cornflour together. Coat each piece of fish with the flour mix and add them into the hot oil and shallow fry each side for approximately 3-4 minutes until cooked and golden. Set aside.

In a wok pan, add 2 tbsp of groundnut oil or an oil of your choice, add the ginger, onion, carrot, green and red pepper, stir fry for 3 minutes and then add the pineapple and sauce. Stir fry for 1 minute. If you would like the sauce thicker, turn down the heat and add in some potato starch slurry.

Add the fish and mix well, coating it with the sauce. Sprinkle some scallion for garnish. Ready to serve.

Cook's notes

Choose a properly firm white fish so the pieces hold together through coating and frying; softer fillets tend to break up in the oil.
Get the oil hot before the fish goes in - shallow-frying at the right temperature is what gives a crisp shell rather than a greasy, pale one.
Fry the fish and set it aside, only folding it into the sauce at the very end so the coating keeps some crunch.
The sauce is equal parts sugar, rice vinegar, ketchup and pineapple juice, so taste and tip it your way - a little more vinegar for sharpness, more sugar if you like it rounder.
Add the cornflour-and-water slurry gradually off a lower heat; it thickens fast, and you can always add more but can't take it back.

Serve with Steamed jasmine rice is the natural partner, soaking up the sauce. A plain stir-fried green like pak choi or some plain greens balances the sweetness.

Make ahead & storage Best eaten straight away while the coating is crisp. Leftovers keep for a day in the fridge but the fish will soften; reheat in a hot oven or air fryer rather than the microwave to bring back some texture.

30 MinutesAsian

Recipe by Eva Pau · From the series Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen · Photography © Appetite Media
Published 13 July 2026 · Updated 15 July 2026

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

737kcal

33gprotein

115gcarbs

17gfat

Approximate — calculated from the ingredient list using USDA food data. A guide, not a medical figure.

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