I've been making this dish since my student days. In those days, it was one of the most complicated dishes I made, but it no longer cause quite the stress that it did in those days. The recipe originally came from “Chinese Food”, by Kenneth Lo, who specified carp, and that it should be deep-fried.

The biggest issue with this dish is the balance between sweet and sour in the sauce. In particular, the strength of commercially available vinegar can vary considerably. In case of doubt (some vinegar, notably that from ALDI, doesn't specify the strength), assume 5%.

Ingredients

Serves:		6 or so
Preparation time:		60 minutes

Serves 6 or so. Preparation time: 60 minutes.

quantity		ingredient		step
10 g		dried tree fungus (mushrooms)		1
1 kg		fish fillet		2
30 g		flour		2
5 g		salt		2
		oil for frying		2
300 ml		water		3
40 ml		soya sauce		3
80 ml		dry sherry or rice wine		3
8 g		chicken stock powder		3
50 g		tomato purée		3
40 g		sugar		3
50 g		bamboo shoots		4
50 g		sweet red capsicum		4
60 ml		vinegar, 6% (1.8 g acetic acid)		5
OR 72 ml		vinegar, 5%		5
10 g		cornflour, mixed in little water		5
		sesame oil		6
		coriander leaf, chopped		6

Preparation

1. Soak the fungus in water for about 20 minutes to soften it. Cut into fine strips.

2. Rub the fish with salt and flour and leave for a few minutes. Fry in a pan with little oil.

3. While the fish is frying, mix the ingredients for the sauce, except for the vinegar, and bring to the boil. Don't put in the vinegar yet: it will hydrolyse the sugar and make the sauce less sweet.

4. When the fish is cooked, pour off any excess oil and fry the capsicum in as little oil as possible. When a little softened, add the bamboo shoots and drained mushrooms.

5. Add the sauce and the vinegar and bring back to the boil. Add the cornflour mixture carefully. I still don't have exact numbers here, and it's easy to end up with glue if you use too much cornflour.

6. Add sesame oil to taste, pour the vegetable and sauce mixture over the fish, and garnish with coriander leaf. Serve.