Category: dairy-free, family meal, Filipino, gluten-free, make-ahead, quick meals, seafood
Cuisine: Filipino
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 Mins
Cook Time:
30 Mins
Total Time:
40 Mins
Escabeche
(Filipino Sweet & Sour Fish)
Serves 4
Ingredients
Instructions
- Slice all the vegetables and ginger into similar size strips or julienne. Mince the garlic.
- Heat about 3 tbsp cooking oil in a heavy-base sauté pan. Sauté the garlic then add the onion and ginger. Cook until onions and ginger are soft and translucent then add the tomatoes or tomato paste, whichever one you're using.
- If using fresh tomatoes, cover with a lid and cook down tomatoes for 10 minutes. If using tomato paste, cook out the tomato paste without the lid for 2 minutes.
- Add the vegetables, stir and cover for 10 minutes until vegetables are soft and tomatoes are breaking down (if using fresh tomatoes).
- While simmering the sauce, fry the fish. In a wide frying pan with plenty of room for the fish, heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil. Pat fish dry and season with salt. Once the oil is hot, place the fish in the pan and leave until skin is crispy and golden, about 6 minutes, your fish should look almost done.
- Flip the fish and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish. Remove from pan and drain off excess oil with paper towel.
- Finish your sauce by adding vinegar and brown sugar. Bring to the boil then simmer until the sauce is the consistency that you like. Remove from heat.
- To serve, spoon the sauce on the serving platter and place the cooked fish on top. Season with pepper and serve with steamed rice.
Notes
- Fish options: I like using snapper, barramundi, swordfish and coral trout. Any white fish will do.
- Cooking method for fish: You can fry, grill, bake or steam.
- Make-ahead. You can make the sauce in advance and just cook the fish on the day. Makes it a lot easier and the sauce keep every well in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
