Ferocious favorite

Homestyle fried hairtail

1 whole hairtail, or 6-8 pieces of frozen hairtail

1 teaspoon ginger juice

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder

Cornstarch and salt

Chop off the head of the hairtail and discard. Using a pair of scissors, trim off the side fins, working from the tail up so they can be easily snipped.

Clean out the guts, making sure the bloodline next to the spine is completely scraped clean. Cut the fish into 5-cm sections, rinse and pat completely dry.

Drizzle with ginger juice and set aside to marinate.

Mix about two tablespoons of cornstarch with salt and turmeric and place into a large ziplock bag. Add the fish sections and shake to coat thoroughly.

Dust off any extra flour, and fry the fish in shallow oil over a medium heat. Do not touch or turn the fish until a crust forms on one side. Shake the frying pan gently to loosen the fish from the pan. Turn only after a full five minutes. The medium heat will crisp the fish without burning it.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve with lemon wedges and a bit of soy sauce on the side.

Note: You can substitute five-spice powder for the turmeric if you prefer.

Braised hairtail in savory brown sauce

6-8 sections of fried hairtail

1 brown onion

1 red chili pepper

1/2 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper

Soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch for a slurry

Make a batch of fried hairtail.

Slice the onion in half, then into thin slices. Deseed the chili and cut into fine rings.

Heat up some oil and saute the onions until they turn lightly brown and fragrant.

Add the chili and black pepper.

Take half a rice bowl of water and add a tablespoon of cornstarch, a dash of sesame oil and soy sauce to taste. Mix the slurry well and pour into the waiting pan.

Stir as the sauce thickens.

Add the fish and cover to cook about five minutes.

Plate and serve hot, with rice.

Contact the writer at paulined@chinadaily.com.cn