As much as I love Nigella, at the end of the day...my grandmothers, momsie and aunts are the ultimate Domestic Goddesses to me. :)

My maternal family is a good example of "Rojak" Although majority are Indians, there are also E Arabs, Malay, Indonesian and chinese. The beauty of it is that, I get to learn and understand more about other cultures and tradition and most importantly, cuisines. This is a food blog after all! :D As a kid, I was particularly found of Aunty Fauziah cook awesome chinese cuisines. Her soups, stir fry veges and noodles were unbeatable :) Her sweet and sour fish is a favourite in my family. I had to learn it. That was 8 years ago...but this dish still continue to be up there. There isn't really much of a recipe. You don't have to follow the recipe to a "T" but merely use it as a rough guide. Such is the flexibility of home-cooking....don't you agree? :)

Sweet Sour dishes are fairly ubiquitous and you can find it in almost all Chinese restaurant, though as usual it varies from place to place. My aunt's version is different but crazily good. It is so so so simple yet surprisingly delish. and the dish is very versatile. Needless to say, I really, really, enjoyed this dish. It was delightfully delicious and refreshing, and delicious. Errr did I mention delicious? :p

Ingredients:

500g fresh fish fillets. (snapper/dory would be perfect)

3 garlic -pounded

1/2 c rice floor

Dash of black pepper

1/4tsp salt

2tbsp lemon juice

Method:

Cut fish into bite-size pieces. Rub with lemon juice and salt. Place in a mixing bowl and combine with garlic, flour, pepper. Meanwhile, heat oil in deep-fryer or heavy saucepan.

Deep fry fillets pieces until golden brown. Drain on paper towels; set aside.

Sauce:

3tbsp light soy sauce

3tbsp white vinegar

2-3tbsp sugar

1 bowl water

2 onion - cut into rings

3 chillies - sliced.

2tsp cornflour mix with 2tsp water - for thickening

A good pinch of salt (this is only required if your soy sauce has less salt content)

Method:

In a frying pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Saute onion and chillies.

Add soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water.

Once it boils, mix in cornflour. There isn't a need to add all of the cornstarch.

It should be slightly thick only.

Pour sauce over fish and serve hot.

*This sauce goes well with prawns and scallops too.