Who hates frying fish? I.hate.frying.fish!
I hate the oil splatters on my skin. You can never miss at least a drop or two of hot oil splatters on your skin when you slide the fish into the wok unless you wear gloves and a full body protective suit. Â Once, the oil splattered onto my eye lid and lips, bugger!! And never once had I been successful in frying a fish without getting the fish skin stuck onto the wok and some meat detached from the bone. I hate serving fish that looks like half of it has been eaten by a cat!
Last week, I gave fish-frying one last try! Â I patted dry the fish with kitchen towels before sliding it into the wok (this step is crucial to ensure minimal splish splash of oil and for a crispy outcome).
The moment the fish touched the hot oil, the splish-splash of oil jumped out of the wok. With one hand holding the fish and another hand holding the wok lid to shield myself (LOL!), I quickly closed the wok with the transparent lid.  This time, my fish turned out PERFECT!  I was SO pleased with my little achievement and proud to show the girls that their mummy can finally dish out a perfectly fried fish with skin and meat intact!  And the fins were crispy too! 😀
I can only deduce that a good non-stick wok is key to getting nicely fried fish.  And I am glad that my new non-stick wok comes with a transparent lid with a steam hole – just perfect for me to peep at the fish whilst it’s being fried inside. It’s kind of therapeutic to see your fish sizzling nicely inside without getting any smoke and oil splatter outside 😀
So yes, the fish was perfect this time — I would rate it 9/10! 😀
I did not marinate the fish but stuffed some cut kafir lime leaves inside the flesh through the diagonal lines that I cut on the fish. After the fish was fried and removed from the wok, I fried a handful of kafir lime leaves. The leaves turned out super crispy and aromatic – like eating chips!  With the remaining oil left  in the wok, I drizzled some soy sauce in the wok of oil and let it heat up for a minute. Then poured the sauce onto the fish and serve!
Our dinner of fried fish and Nasi Briyani (bought for dinner yesterday but was not eaten as we had dinner at an aunt’s house).
No. of times viewed = 3
Very well attempt. Me too dislike frying fish for the same reason and the oil mess have to clean up after that.
Hi Agnes, do get a good non-stick wok with a lid. That will help you a great deal in your pan-fries and deep-fries with minimal oil splatters 🙂
what about using an air fryer to fry fish? Do you think it is worth getting an air fryer to fry items? But I think it would not be easy to clean the air fryer so your non stick wok with a lid may be a better option.
Hey Mun, air fryer is not suitable for us as it’s very small and I normally cook/fry food that’s enough for 2 meals. And yes, i think I will hate washing the net in the air fryer! 😉