Sweet and Sour Fish (糖醋魚片)

With how busy things have gotten this semester, I haven't had as much time to blog or even make particularly interesting meals. We are still planning out two weeks worth of meals to minimize exposure, and trips to the Chinese store have been especially rare. Today's recipe is a classic sweet and sour fish that doesn't have any hard-to-find ingredients. Sweet and sour fish is a beloved dish in our household, and this was a request from Ariel. I jumped into volume II of Pei Mei's Chinese Cook Book to see what I could find. This is an adaptation of Pei Mei's "fish rolls in sweet and sour sauce." Pei Mei's dish involves wrapping the fish in tofu skin to make little packages, which are then deep fried. I didn't have the tofu skin, so I adapted this into a more standard sweet and sour fish with dredged fish slices. The original recipe is called tangcu yujuan, or "sweet and sour fish rolls." I'm calling mine tangcu yupian, which means "sweet and sour fish slices."

This dish is superficially similar to the fish slices with tomato sauce recipe I did in 2018. For the fish, we start with an egg-white based marinade, dredge, and quickly deep fry. I continued my experimentation with potato starch this time. No matter what you do, the crunch doesn't last too long in the sauce, but this did retain some, and I was happy with the result. You can always use corn starch instead, but the crust you get from potato starch is nice. The sauce is the classic mix of rice vinegar, sugar, and ketchup. I personally prefer my sweet and sour fish more on the sour side, so I cut the sugar down quite a bit. The sauce did get a little too thick with the full tablespoon of corn starch here, so I think I would cut it to 2 teaspoons next time. Although the fish and sauce are similar to the other recipe, the other ingredients are not. Instead of peas, onions, and mushrooms, this one uses the classic aromatic combination of scallion, ginger, and garlic. This places the fish firmly as the star of the show. Overall, this was another successful Pei Mei adaptation that I would definitely recommend giving a try.

Summer Squash Pancakes

Even as fall sets in, our patty pan squash plant has continued to produce. This will probably my last summer squash recipe of the season. I like winter squash, too, so maybe we'll head there next. These squash pancakes are basically a variant of the potato pancake concept. As summer squash are less sturdy and starchy than potatoes, they are a lot more delicate in texture. They are an easy and tasty side dish and a great way to use up squash in a more interesting way than just roasting them.

Grating the squash opens up new possibilities, like the frittata I made last month. It's important to squeeze the water out, or you won't be able to form cohesive pancakes. I did the same with the onion. The white patty pans we had worked well, but you could definitely use yellow or zucchini squash, as well. Egg and panko bind everything together. This recipe will make about 9 pancakes. Serve with a condiment of your choice. We used sour cream, but you couldn't go wrong with Japanese mayo, either. I rounded out the meal with pan-roasted chicken thighs with a quick pan sauce. 

Jamaican Rum Punch

Through my experimentation with cocktails over the last few months, I've settled into rum as my spirit of choice. There are so many different styles, which are closely tied to the history of the Caribbean. With so many countries of origin and production methods, rum firmly defies categorization, despite the many attempts to do so. It's kind of a perfect storm for a history buff and budding cocktail enthusiast. Rum cocktails are also extremely diverse, from straightforward classics like the daiquiri to the complex Tiki-style drinks that rose to prominence in the 1930s and 40s. This simple punch has become one of my favorite go-to drinks lately. 

This rum punch started out as a variation on a classic daiquiri, by way of Martin Cate's planter's punch recipe. Dashes of both Angostura and orange bitters (both can be found cheaply at Walmart) add a little extra without taking over the flavor profile. This drink is not as clean as a daiquiri, but does let the individual rum shine through in a way that more complicated drinks (see the Painkiller) do not. Demerara sugar appears for the first time since my iced coffee recipe. The fuller-flavored Jamaican rum stands up to it in a way that wouldn't work as well in a traditional daiquiri. If all you can get is regular white sugar, that's also fine. This post is not meant to be overly prescriptive. I usually leave this one ungarnished, but if I'll stick a mint sprig in there if I'm feeling fancy.

Our local municipal liquor does not have a great rum selection, so I typically use Appleton Signature Blend for this. Very much the starter Jamaican rum, it's one of the most accessible and best value bottles out there. If you can get something more interesting, definitely go for it. I've also done this drink with half Appleton and half Smith and Cross. Bottled at "navy strength" (supposedly strong enough to allow gunpowder to light if spilled), it brings a lot to the table in both alcohol and flavor. Ariel picked me up a bottle last time she was in Sioux Falls (where we rarely go since the pandemic started), and I'm looking forward to trying it out in more cocktails.