Sweet and Sour Fish

It's one of those fairly ubiquitous dishes that you can almost always order in a North American Chinese restaurant, though as usual, the quality varies from place to place. Below is my own attempt at doing this from scratch after trying a so-so ready mix (Maggi brand, no less). The recipe is modified from stuff I found using google, with the chilli thrown in "for effect" (I'm Singaporean after all). Works fairly well, but I'm still open to further modifications.


Now where's my green bell pepper...

Fish and Vegetables:
1 pound fish fillets (e.g., cod, haddock, sea bass; I used (frozen) basa, which is not only inexpensive, but worked very well), rinse, pat dry and cut into bite-size pieces
1 bell pepper, cut into wedges (I prefer a green one, for color)
2 tomatoes (small/medium), each cut into 8 pieces
1 onion (small/medium), cut into 12 pieces
Pineapple cubes (from a can is fine)
1 stalk green onion, chopped into half inch pieces
1 red chilli, seeds removed, cut into small strips
1 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped

Marinade:
1 tsp salt
1 egg white
1 tsp cornstarch

Sauce:
3/4 cup chicken broth (Knorr plus water would do)
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
3-4 tbsp ketcup
3 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp water (this should be separate from the rest)

Also:
Enough oil for deep-frying

Method:
1. Marinade the fish for about 15 min (mix well; best using fingers). Deep-fry until golden brown, then drain (e.g., on paper towels or rack).
2. Mix together the ingredients for the sauce, except for the last item, which should be in a separate bowl.
3. Stir-fry ginger in about 2 tbsp of oil for about 30 seconds. Add the onion, green onion, pineapplec and chilli and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes for a quick fry. Add the sauce and bring it to a boil. Add cornstarch-water mixture, stirring to thicken. Turn off heat. Add the fish and mix everything with the thickened sauce. Serve.


Preparations (what am I going to do with that left-over egg yolk?)


'Deep'-frying the fish


Mental note to self: add the tomatoes later next time so that they don't disintegrate...