What sells fried red tilapia with green mango sauce is crisp skin meeting a sour sauce. Fish that is not fried dry enough goes soft the moment the sauce lands, and mango stirred too long loses its bite.
The green mango needs only about 3 minutes in the sauce, long enough to take on flavor while the shreds stay crunchy. Drain the fried fish before saucing it, and spoon the sauce on as you eat for the crispest result.
This batch weighs about 1.2kg, at roughly 155 calories per 100g.
Method
Clean the red tilapia, remove the guts and cut a few slashes along the body so it takes the seasoning. Rinse it with salted water or ginger to remove any off smell, then drain.
Peel the green mango and shred or cut it into fine strips. Finely chop the shallots and 15g garlic, slice the red chilies and chop the cilantro.
Coat the fish in a thin layer of the 50g crispy frying flour. Heat 500ml oil and deep fry until golden and crisp on both sides, then lift the fish out to drain.
Make the sauce: fry the shallot and garlic until fragrant, then stir in 30ml fish sauce, 22.5g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 15g chili sauce and 15ml lime juice. Add the green mango and toss quickly for about 3 minutes, then sprinkle in 2g ground pepper.
Set the fish on a plate, spoon the mango sauce evenly over it and finish with the red chili and cilantro.
Tips
Toss the mango for about 3 minutes only, so the strands take the sauce and stay crunchy.
Rinse the fish in lightly salted water or with bruised ginger before frying to clear the smell.
Pat the fish completely dry before coating it in flour, which gives a crisp crust and less spitting.
Keep the shredded green mango separate, since mixing it into the sauce early draws water and thins it.
Spoon the sauce over just before serving, as standing softens the skin.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.