Crunchy-Fried Petra Sole Fish

Sometimes, the best place to find food ideas and recipes is not in cookbooks, or the Food Network, or even on the internet. Remember the promise I made to myself at the beginning of the year? About me asking next door neighbor, mailman, friends for recipes and cooking tips? Well, include fellow shoppers as when I went to grocery-shop last Saturday, I actively harrassed everyone in the asian market I frequent. “How do you cook this fish? Really? What do you put in that recipe?” It’s amazing that despite the hustle and bustle of the very busy market, people did stop and answer my questions. One lady even went as far as finding all the ingredients for me. I suppose we all search for connections. We all want to be needed, to be important. It’s just like blogging~one wants to teach and share, the other wants to grasp and learn. Anyway, this is the fried petra sole fish recipe that was shared to me…wow! I didn’t even get her name!…by a kind stranger.

Makes 4 Servings

2 whole sole fish, cleaned and gutted
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
garlic chips
vegetable oil

In a large bowl, mix lemon juice and soy sauce. Marinate sole fish for around 1 hour.
In a wide platter, combine flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Coat fish in flour mixture.
Heat oil in frying pan to around 350 F. Gently slide in floured fish into hot oil.
Fry, turning once, until both sides are golden brown and exterior skin is “crunchy”.
Place in serving platter. Sprinkle with fried garlic chips and garnish with lime slices, if desired.

TIPS:
1) Make sure to fry as soon as covered with flour to prevent the flour coat from becoming “gummy”.