Shanghai-style Braised Whole Snapper

Packed with flavour, this dish is on the table in 20 minutes!

700-gram whole snapper 1 tablespoon cornflour

3 tablespoons neutral, high smoke point cooking oil

1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced

1 cup Shaoxing rice wine

5 spring onions, 4 chopped, 1 sliced to garnish 2 cloves garlic, crushed ½ teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon water 1 tablespoon caster sugar

You will need a large wok or paella pan.

Pat the fish dry and cut three diagonal slashes into each side. Use a tea strainer to dust each side with cornflour.

Heat the oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the ginger and cook for 2 minutes until starting to brown then discard.

Add the snapper and cook for 7 minutes, giving the pan an occasional jiggle to ensure that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Gently turn the fish over and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add the rice wine, spring onion (reserving the garnish), garlic, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, water and caster sugar and stir around the fish to combine. Cook for a further 5 minutes, spooning the sauce over the fish occasionally. Serve the fish garnished with the remaining spring onion. SERVES 4-6