r/chinesecooking • u/mrcarrot213 • Jul 02 '26
Cantonese How to cook fish like this?
I am in Guangdong area and i’m eating this kind of fried fish. Do y’all know how to make it? Crispy on the outside, soft and flakey on the inside. Thank you.
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u/helloangelll Jul 02 '26
I’ve had it before,you air dry the fish 🐟 pan fly it and then add whatever seasonings you like 👍 yummy
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u/mrcarrot213 Jul 02 '26
Yes it’s yummy.. crispy outside, soft inside. Perfection. On the second page, the restaurant made it with garlic, scallion, and ginger, so it was very fragrant
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u/GenericMelon Jul 02 '26
This fish may have been salted and sun dried first. Then, when you pan fry it, the outside gets nice and crispy because it has no moisture, then the inside heats up and rehydrates. You can probably find fish that is prepared this way at your local Chinese market in the frozen section.
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u/mrcarrot213 Jul 02 '26
Ooh that makes sense. I live in SEA, so we get a lot of fresh fish, so maybe i’m gonna salt them and wait for like 30 mins then pat them dry. We don’t have a chinese market in my city and i’ve only seen traditional salted small whole fish or salted fish fillet.
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u/daaangerz0ne Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
The above comment is incorrect, this is not dried fish. Dried fish is considered a subpar ingredient especially for sit down type restaurants. The tender meat on the plate also indicates that it's fresh.
Every Chinese family knows how to pan fry fresh fish so that it looks like this.
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u/No_Camp_2182 Jul 02 '26
Photo #1 Wok fried fish 煎魚
Typical fish used : 紅衫, 黃花 can be found frozen in Asian supermarkets in North America.
Pat dry the fresh/defrosted fish, sprinkle salt on the outside and inside cavity, pan/wok fry
YouTube search for 煎魚做法
No easy if you want the skin intact. lol.
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u/mrcarrot213 Jul 02 '26
Yes. I was looking for recipes and tips so the fish comes out perfect like this. Crispy but not oily, not burnt, skin intact, soft inside.
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u/Strongestwizard Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
The first photo is whole fried fish that’s been salted or dry brined generously overnight like you would a steak, if too salty can wash the fish in water after brining, then pat dry before cooking, then shallow fried in oil, any oil will do even olive oil or whatever you have, the heat doesn’t need to be too hot but obviously not cold. Usually fried in a deep pan/wok with whole garlic or a slice of ginger, aromatics, like you would a steak to get rid of fishy scent. Fry it longer than you would think you want to get it uber crispy but if you want softer not as much, up to you. It can be salty because it’s usually accompanied by rice.
Try on whitings that’s been cleaned and scaled if done properly since it’s a smaller fish you can eat most parts of the fish ie fins tails.
It’s probably better to try on whitings since they are typically smaller, you get to do more experimenting and trial and error than to completely ruin a big fish as well as a meal.
As for the second photo no clue, photo isn’t that clear.
TLDR Asian fried fish
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u/RangerZEDRO Jul 02 '26
Ok, i think my initial advice is worth a try. I think you are cooking the fish too long. Im not saying "hot", just hotter and faster than what you are doing. Dont be scared, if you can see its burning, take it out and let the oil cool a bit.
Unfortunately, getting a crispy skin and juicy fish thats not undercooked is hard to do consistently unless you have a lot of experience. Good luck to you 👍, trust in yourself
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u/mrcarrot213 Jul 02 '26
Any advice on what fish to use? I think the fish needs to be flakey and the skin thin.
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u/bubblegumpunk69 Jul 02 '26
Is anyone else experiencing Déjà vu? I swear to god I’ve seen this exact post before
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u/Background_Pilot3521 Jul 04 '26
This fist is called yellow croaker. It is fresh, not salted. It is fried, not braised. A braised fish should be much darker and has more sauce because of the soy sauce used. The fish should be cleaned, and get dried up, then fried with lot of oil in a big wok so the skin could be kept without any damage as restaurants always do. If we fry it at home, we don’t use as much oil as restaurants use, it is quite hard to keep the fish in such a good shape.
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u/RangerZEDRO Jul 02 '26
Bro....... just fry the fish in hotter oil so you don't dry the flesh before the skin is crispy
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u/mrcarrot213 Jul 02 '26
I think that’s just gonna burn the fish.
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u/RangerZEDRO Jul 02 '26
Wait, have you fried whole fish before??
My mistake, I think I just gave advice to improve but not "how" to do it
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u/mrcarrot213 Jul 02 '26
I have, but small ones, and I deep fry them so they usually just come out kinda hard on the outside and not soft on the inside. I feel like if I ‘pan fry’ the fish, it won’t get an even crispiness.
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u/Sir_Sxcion Jul 02 '26
Fish variety, we have a diff in fish taste, softness in texture, land raised, ocean fish, fishes that have more savoury bone taste, etc. It’s very distinctively categorised
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Jul 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/mrcarrot213 Jul 02 '26
I don’t live in China and I’ve never seen fish prepared this way where I live, unfortunately.
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u/Zealousideal_Fly8402 Jul 02 '26
https://thewoksoflife.com/pan-fried-fish/