Chinese Seafood Recipes - Sweet and Sour Trout

Ingredients

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  8-9 oz. trout
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  sprinkle pepper
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  pinch salt
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  good pinch Ve-Tsin (M.S.G.)
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  1 beaten egg
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  2 tablespoons self-raising flour
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  2 tablespoons thinly sliced boiled carrots
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  3 slices raw cucumber
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  fairly hot deep peanut oil
  Sweet-Sour Sauce
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  1 tablespoon sugar
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  pinch each salt and pepper good pinch Ve- Tsin (M.S.G.)
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  3 tablespoons malt vinegar
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  1 teaspoon soy sauce
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  1 teaspoon tomato ketchup
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  scant 1/4 pint (U.S. 5/8 cup) water
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  1 teaspoon corn-flour
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  1 dessertspoon water
  

  Method:

  1. Ask the fishmonger to scrape the trout and remove the insides through the gills, leaving the head on. Sprinkle inside and out with the pepper, salt and Ve-Tsin.
  2. Beat the egg. Have the flour ready on a plate. Cut the sliced carrots into thin strips. Slice the unpeeled cucumber and cut nicks all round the slices.
  3. Coat the trout all over with the egg and then pass it through the flour. Lower the fish into the hot oil (350-360°F. or 176°-182°C.) remembering that it is raw and must be cooked all through without being browned too quickly. Give it 12-15 minutes.
  4. While the fish is cooking, make the sauce. Mix together the first 7 ingredients. Bring to the boil. Stir in the corn-flour, blended with the water and boil for 2 minutes while stirring.
  5. Add the prepared vegetables and heat through. Place the drained trout on a heated deep dish. Pour the sauce and vegetables over it and serve.