From Eat Drink Man Woman · 1994 · Reconstructed
Fried Squirrel Fish (Songshu Yu)
Serve when
Serve it the moment the diamond-scored fish hits the hot oil and curls into its 'squirrel' shape — the opening montage's most virtuosic single cut.
In the movie
Theatrical
- ~00:02:00 Part of Chef Chu's wordless opening tour de force: a whole fish scored in a diamond pattern and dropped into sizzling oil, curling and fanning as it fries — the classic sweet-and-sour showpiece of his Sunday banquet.
The opening montage never explains itself — no dialogue, just Chef Chu's hands moving faster than the family he can't talk to. The scored fish curling into shape in hot oil is the single showiest cut in a sequence built entirely of them: a dish that exists to prove, wordlessly, that this man's total command of technique is also his only fluent language.
Ingredients
- For the sauce:
Method
- Butterfly the fish from the belly, keeping the two fillets attached at the tail, and remove the spine. Score each fillet in a tight diamond crosshatch, cutting almost through to the skin.
- Dredge the whole fish thoroughly in cornstarch, working it into every cut, and shake off the excess. Pat the fish bone-dry before dredging — a wet surface turns the cornstarch to paste and the crust never crisps.
- Heat oil to 350°F in a wok. Hold the fish by the tail and lower it in carefully, spreading the scored sections so they curl outward and fan open as they fry, 4-5 minutes until deep golden. Drain.
- For the sauce, sauté the garlic and ginger, then add the vinegar, sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, and stock. Bring to a simmer and thicken with the cornstarch slurry.
- Pour the hot sauce over the fried fish at the table so it hisses on contact, and scatter with peas or carrot for color.
Substitutions
- "Squirrel" fish: there is no squirrel in the dish — the name refers to the curled, fanned shape of the scored whole fish. Whole sea bass, snapper, carp, or tilapia all work; ask the fishmonger to scale and gut it for you.
- Whole fish confidence: if the cutting feels like the hard part, use two thick skin-on fillets, crosshatch them lightly, dredge, and shallow-fry. The dish won't bloom into the classic showpiece shape, but the crisp fish and hot sweet-sour sauce still land.
- Deep-frying: a wok is ideal because it gives depth with less oil. A Dutch oven works too; just keep the oil below halfway up the pot and use a thermometer.
Beyond the recipe
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