Healthy Sweet and Sour Fish

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Simple sweet and sour fish made with tender chunks of firm white fish smothered in an aromatic home made tangy sauce without any added sugars. Its full of flavour, healthy, fresh and colourful.

Why Make This Recipe?

Quick and easy to make in just 20 minutes
Simple everyday ingredients, nothing unusual
Low in Sugar, yet doesn’t skimp on flavour
No deep frying or shallow frying! (very little oil is used)
Perfect for health conscious foodies who love healthier versions of their favourite takeout
Great as a Date night dinner
Its got that essential tang that you’d expect from a delicious sweet and sour sauce
Makes great leftovers the next day

Ingredient Notes

Fish Type: I used Pearl Perch skinless fillets which is my personal favourite for this type of dish. You could use any type of firm white fish such as Trout, Snapper, Sea Bass. Avoid delicate types of fish that may fall apart when cooked with other ingredients.
Fish Size: Cut the fish pieces the same size to ensure they cook evenly. About 2 ½ cm or 1 inch squares is ideal.
Ketchup: there are a number of low sugar and no added sugar ketchups available in mainstream supermarkets these days. Check the sauce aisle and the health food aisle as well. Alternatively, I have a recipe for making your own low sugar ketchup.
Tomato Passata may be used in place of store bought low sugar tomato sauce/tomato ketchup, however you’ll need to add extra salt and a little natural sweetenner – such as granulated stevia or monkfruit.
Vinegar: I love to use apple cider vinegar, but you can substitute with white vinegar as well.
Pineapple: I used canned pineapple and cut it into chunks, but if fresh pineapple is in season, feel free to use that. Just make sure to cut off all the skin so its smooth with no roughness.
Capsicum: also called peppers. I love using a combination of red, green and yellow, but really you can just use whatever colours you can get your hands on.

How To Make This is 15 Minutes

Prepare Fish

Chop fish into 1 inch chunks. Season fish lightly with salt and pepper, tossing lightly to coat.
Heat a non-stick wok over medium-high heat. Spray lightly with oil. Cook fish, in batches, for 1 minute on each side or until golden and cooked through. Wipe wok clean.

Make Sauce

Blend cornflour tap water in a bowl, then add soy sauce, vinegar, pineapple, juice and tomato sauce/tomato ketchup. Stir well until combined

Cook Veges

Spray oil onto wok over medium-high heat. Add onion, capsicum and carrot. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until vegetables are almost tender. Add sauce mixture. Stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then quickly reduce heat to low.

Bring it all together

Add zucchini. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add fish back into wok. Simmer for 1 minute or until heated through. Serve immediately with Jasmine Rice.

Expert Tips

Tanginess: adjust the tanginess of the sauce by adding more vinegar for extra tang, or adding some granulated sweetener for more sweetness (I love using Lakanto Monkfruit Classic)
Flour the Fish: If you prefer a little bit of crispness to your fish without the deep frying or shallow frying, lightly flour the fish after seasoning it. Using plain flour is best, and adding it to a ziplock bag with the fish pieces works a treat. Empty them out into a strainer or colander to remove excess flour, and they’re ready for cooking in the wok (you may need just a little extra oil that you would if you hadn’t used flour, but much less than you would need for a shallow fry)

sweet and sour fish in the wok with vegetables

Variations

Chicken Thigh: Instead of using fish, you could use skinless chicken thigh chopped into 1inch pieces. The cooking time would be longer for chicken thigh – I would suggest around 5 to 6 minutes.

Squid: This works well with squid either cut into circles, or chunks. Cooking time for these would be less than the fish as squid cooks very quickly.

Pork: Thinly slice a pork tenderloin and cook in the same manner as the fish. It should take around the same time as the fish if its sliced thinly enough.

Flavour Booster for the Sauce: This sweet ad sour fish has just the right amount of sweetness and tang, and the sauce can be easily customised with any of the below suggestions:

Add a teaspoon of crushed garlic to the sauce
Add a teaspoon of crushed ginger to the sauce
Add ½ a teaspoon of dried red chilli flakes

sweet and sour fish with rice in a bowl with fork ready to eat

Questions

Can I use frozen fish?

Yes. Just make sure its defrosted first, and pat dry any moisture with paper towel or kitchen paper. See ingredient notes for recommendations on best types of fish to use.

Can this dish be frozen?

Yes, freeze for upto 4 weeks.

Serving Ideas

Steamed jasmine rice, or pre cooked packet jasmine rice for convenience
Cauliflower rice for a low carb option – this is one of my favourite ways to enjoy a healthy sweet and sour fish.
Your favourite precooked noodles tossed in at the last minute. Why not try zucchini noodles for another low carb option.

Sweet and Sour Fish

Why Make This Recipe?

Ingredient Notes