Tilapia in Sweet & Sour Sauce (Escabecheng Tilapia)

From Tilapia in Sweet N Sour Sauce

My recipe here is probably so unconventional for the typical Filipino, because of one ingredient not usually found in a Pinoy's pantry: the excess juice coming from canned whole tomatoes.

My younger son celebrated his 11th birthday recently. For the kids' birthday celebration, lasagna is the most requested dish. One ingredient for the lasagna is two quarts of drained(self-)canned whole tomatoes (you can also buy these in grocery stores, FYI). As you probably are now aware of, ang pagka-Ilokana ni Manang, humihirit. I did not want to throw away the juice drained from these. I kept them in the fridge, planning to make sweet and sour sauce, to pour over fried fish. I actually came up with two quarts of finished SSS, and I kept one jar in the fridge for the next Pinay gathering. The rest, I poured onto a whole (head and all) fried tilapia we had two days after. I warned my hubby to stop by somewhere on his way home to get himself something for supper, and not to be afraid to be late. I told him the boys and I were going to eat a head, so we better eat ahead. (pun intended! haha!)

If you do not ever plan to do canning of tomatoes, or to use store-bought canned whole tomatoes, you might not have a use for this recipe. However, if you do plan to can pasta sauce, cooking only the more solid parts of tomatoes and draining off excess juice, you might want to gather that and try canning and processing your own SSS for future use.

Ingredients for SSS:
1-3 tbsp oil
3 cups tomato juice (drained from whole canned tomatoes)
6 tbsp vinegar
2/3 cups sugar
2-3 tbsp tapioca flour (depends on the consistency you want; dissolved in some water)
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 each of red and green bell peppers, cut into strips
2-3 tbsp ginger, julienned
1 medium onion, sliced
1-2 tsp salt (to taste)
some drops of Worcestershire sauce
some soy sauce

[Note: If I will experiment in the future to can SSS, then I would add the last two ingredients only during reheating, as I do not know how they will affect the pH.]

Fish, slit on sides (2-3 lbs)
salt to marinade the fish while you heat up the wok
cornstarch to dredge fish in just before frying

Instructions:

From Tilapia in Sweet N Sour Sauce

Prepare the SSS. Heat oil on med high. Sautee ginger then onion, then add veggies. Add the tomato juice, vinegar, and sugar, and season with the rest of the spices to taste. Add tapioca-water mixture in thin stream until you achieve your desired consistency. Set aside 1 pint in a clean jar and refrigerate if you can't use all. Use the remaining for 1 big fish.

From Tilapia in Sweet N Sour Sauce

Heat wok over high for about 5 minutes (or until very hot). Add oil and heat on high. Dredge fish in cornstarch and shake excess off. Deep fry for about 5 minutes one side (or until browned and crisped good), then flip and cook another 5 minutes, covered. Turn off heat and immediately take out fish and let oil drip from it by placing on a cooling rack (do not let fish sit in the oil or it will absorb much of the oil as it cools down). Pour 1 qt of the SSS over the fish. Serve over plain rice.

Note: If you plan to use filets as pictured above (like haddock filet), cut to size, season with salt and pepper, then dredge in cornstarch. Deep fry for less than 10 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking time. Remove and let drain.