Deep Fried Fish with Garlic & Chili

Heavenly garlic and spicy chilis... Note: for those who cannot eat spicy food, don't you worry, as much (and perhaps scary) chilis are on top of the beautifully deep fried fish, it is not that spicy, really.

Besides Sweet & Sour Fish & Steamed Fish, this is my favourite type of fish dish. I like it for it's garlic flavour with a touch of spiciness. It just compliments the fried fish very well. This recipe - is from my mother, unfortunately we forgot where the idea came from. I think, it may have come from a Thai origin - the use of lots of chili and garlic.

I wonder how it would taste like with salmon... :-0 should be nice too! The beauty of cooking is that, you adjust the taste accorfing to you, your taste, and not necessarily according to recipes by other people/maganizes/books, etc. I guess in this case, the garlic and chilis... I know some who may prefer less of these ingredients. Somehow, which ever it is, I think this makes a great seafood dish during the days when you get bored of poultry meat...

White flesh fish that is good for deep frying would suit this recipe. In my case, my dad caught this fish and we informally call this in Bahasa Malaysia "Ikan tudung periuk" which translates to something like "Pot Cover Fish" because of its oval-ish shape. :-) sounds funny!

:: Garlic & Chili Fish ::
1 whole medium fish, cleansed & marinate with a little bit of turmeric powder (about 1/2 -1 teaspoon turmeric powder)
1/2 cup birds eye chili, chopped (as much/little as you'd like)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, mix with 3 tablespoon water
1/2 tablespoon salt & pepper
1 tablespoon corn flour, mix with 1 tablespoon warm water (to thicken gravy)

1. At the body of the fish, make 3-4 vertical slit on body of fish.
2. Deep fry the fish until golden brown & transfer to a serving plate.
3. With a little bit of cooking oil, fry the chopped garlic until aromatic.
4. Add in the oyster sauce mixture & the chopped chilis & stir until it comes to a boil.
5. Add salt & pepper, and the gravy should be almost done.
6. Mix in the corn flour mixture to thicken the gravy, stirring.
7. Pour the gravy over the deep fried fish & serve with steamed rice.

I do hope you enjoyed my seafood adventure so far, all with my dad's fishing trip. We've been having lots of fresh seafood! There are times when he would not get any catch, but when he does we get to enjoy fresh seafood :-)

Till then, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all my readers! Happy Holidays too! :-)