Baked Fish with Kiwi in Sweet and Sour Sauce

The Asian Seabass - Baked and smothered in sweet and sour Kiwi sauce

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about one of my favourite food, the Thai-inspired Deep Fried Fish in Three-Flavoured Sauce.

I did say that "it would be a matter of time" before I fire up my own stove to recreate a similar dish. It's happened sooner than I thought! And being me, I changed the recipe a little here and there for convenience sake and to suit my visual needs. I've got to go, "Whoa! What a sight to behold!"  ..silly as it sounds.

Finally, I couldn't decide if it could be called the "Three-Flavoured Sauce Fish" although technically, my version also passes for sweet, sour and spicy.

The original recipe calls for crisp fried fish... but my fish was way too large to fit into my electric pan so I did away with that step. I marinated the fish with some salt and black pepper, and popped it into the oven instead.

That's my baked fish - Asian Seabass / Barramundi !

For the sauce? A simple mix of Tesco's sweet and sour sauce with lots of cut ingredients. Typically, this recipe should include cubed pineapples but I figured a kiwi fruit would be more exciting.  It was a wonderful swap. I so loved the vibrant colour it added into the dish and how the sauce evolved into something that is very much alive in yummy flavour!

Here's how I did it, the recipe and how-to.

Ingredients:
- One whole fish (Seasoned with salt and pepper and baked, or deep-fried if you prefer)

(Estimates for a 12-inch Barramundi fish - adjust accordingly)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 2 medium red onions (chopped)
- 1 lemongrass (sliced thinly - peel/cut away the dry parts of the stem, use only the soft middle part)
- 2 tomatoes (cut into cubes)
- 1 kiwi fruit (cut into cubes)
- 1 red chili (seeded and chopped)
- 1 green chili (seeded and chopped)
- A handful of fresh coriander (roughly chopped)
- 2/3 cup sweet and sour bottled sauce (or combine sweet chili sauce with tomato ketchup)
- 1½ tbsp corn flour (mixed with water, into a diluted paste)
- ½ cup water (more or less)
- Cooking oil

The Ingredients

How-to:
1) Heat oil in pan. Fry garlic and onions (not all) until lightly browned.

2) Add lemongrass. Give it a quick stir and then, add the tomatoes and chilli. Pour in the sweet and sour sauce and some water. Mix well and let it cook awhile until the tomatoes look smashed. Add water if it gets too dry.

3) Add the remainder of the onions and the kiwi fruit. Stir quickly (that is, don't let it cook), to coat it with the sauce.

4) Lift  the pan off the fire and pour in the corn flour mixture. Give it a quick stir. The gravy will thicken slightly, giving the sauce a gooey shine.

5) To serve, plate the fish and pour the kiwi sauce over the fish. Garnish with fresh coriander. 

Last in! Kiwis and Onions - to keep the crunch and freshness

There you go - Baked Barramundi with Kiwi in Sweet and Sour Sauce!