Chinese Fish Fillets with Homemade Sweet Chilli Sauce

Crispy deep-fried garfish fillets coated in Szechuan-five-spice + cornflour, served with homemade sweet chilli sauce that beats anything in a bottle. The Chinese restaurant favourite, made fresh from your own catch (or any small white-fish fillet).

The homemade sweet chilli is the standout — fresh chilli + coriander + lime + fish sauce = bright, complex, perfectly balanced. Make a batch + use on everything for a week.

Photo by Chris wu on Unsplash

Serves: 4 · Prep: 15 minutes · Cook: 15 minutes (incl. 5 min sauce + 2 min per fish batch) · Equipment: deep-fry pan or wok, mixing bowl, small saucepan, slotted spoon

Photo: Zayed Ahmed Zadu / Unsplash

Fish coating:

• 1kg garfish fillets, all bones removed, skin on
• 3 tbsp cornflour
• ½ tsp ground Szechuan pepper (substitute black pepper if unavailable)
• ½ tsp Chinese Five Spice powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Vegetable oil for deep frying (peanut oil ideal)

Sweet chilli sauce:

• 3 large red chillies, deseeded + finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 4 coriander roots, finely chopped (the secret weapon — major flavour)
• 250g caster sugar
• 130ml Thai coconut vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)
• 30ml Thai fish sauce
• 130ml water

To serve: mixed green salad, jasmine rice, lime wedges.

Substitute fish: garfish is the original (small + delicate). Other small white-flesh options: whiting, leatherjacket, flathead fillets, small bream fillets, mahi-mahi.

Make the sweet chilli sauce FIRST (better with cooling time):

1. Prep: deseed + finely chop chillies. Chop coriander roots + garlic. Chop coriander leaves separately.

2. Make the syrup base. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar + water. Bring to a vigorous boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

3. Take off heat + immediately add chopped chilli, coriander root, coriander leaves, garlic + fish sauce. Stir to combine.

4. Cover + cool. Allows flavours to meld. Sauce will thicken slightly as it cools. (Lasts a week in the fridge.)

Then cook the fish:

5. Mix the dry coating in a wide bowl: Szechuan pepper, cornflour, five-spice + salt.

6. Pat fish fillets dry with paper towel. Lightly coat each fillet in the dry mixture, pressing the coating on. Shake off excess.

7. Heat oil for deep frying to 180°C in a wok or deep pan. Test with a wooden spoon — if bubbles immediately form around the wood, oil is ready.

8. Deep fry fish in batches — single layer, don't crowd. About 2 minutes per batch — until golden + cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate.

9. Serve immediately on a warm plate with the sweet chilli sauce in a small dipping bowl on the side. Mixed green salad alongside, lime wedge for squeezing.

• The coriander ROOTS are the secret. Most recipes ignore them — they're where the deep flavour lives. Use them; ask the greengrocer for coriander with roots intact
• Szechuan pepper creates a slight tongue tingle (málà sensation). Substitute with black pepper if unavailable but the dish loses some character
• Chinese Five Spice = star anise + cloves + cinnamon + Sichuan pepper + fennel. McCormick / Masterfoods sell ready-made
• Oil temperature matters. Too cold = greasy + soggy fish; too hot = burnt outside, raw inside. 180°C is the sweet spot. A thermometer takes the guesswork out
• Don't over-coat — light dusting only. Heavy coating becomes gummy
• Chilli levels: 3 large red chillies = medium heat. Halve for mild; double for hot
• Sauce keeps — make a double batch + use on chicken, prawns, spring rolls, even drizzled over scrambled eggs
• Cooking method alternatives: shallow pan-fry for less oil (still works); air-fry for ultra-light coating; oven-baked for healthy version (20 min at 200°C)
• Fish swaps: any small fillet works — whiting, leatherjacket, flathead are excellent
• Camp version: works fine on a butane stove with a wok. Make sauce ahead at home in a jar
• Wine pairing: off-dry Riesling or unoaked chardonnay handle the chilli + fish

One of those recipes that makes you wonder why you ever bought sweet chilli sauce in a bottle. The homemade version is brighter, fresher, more complex — and once you taste it, the bottled stuff seems lifeless. The fish itself is just the vehicle.

Make the sauce on day 1 of a fishing trip + use it for the whole week — on fresh fish, on chicken skewers, on tofu, on noodles. Versatile + completely transformative.