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You’ll flip for this fried fish dish with seaweed

Grab your handy fish spatula for a taste of Shanghai.

Fried fish on a blue plate Credit: Reviewed / Jenny Dorsey / Tara Jacoby

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Jenny Dorsey is a professional chef, author and speaker specializing in interdisciplinary storytelling fusing food with social good. She leads a nonprofit namedStudio ATAOand runs her own culinary consulting business. Her food and work has been featured in outlets such as Food Network, Oxygen TV, Eater, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, among others.

This recipe is loosely inspired by Shanghai-style seaweed fried fish (苔条鱼片), which I only ever tried recently despite being born in Shanghai. (It’s a favorite of my mother’s from home, but not as common to find stateside.) I like to use a mild white fish for this preparation, like sole or rockfish, since it complements the nice tempura-like batter well. Theseaweedis easily available online at vendors like Amazon, and if you don’t want to deep-fry the fish you’re welcome to also pan-fry with a smaller amount of oil for similarly delicious results. Either way, afish spatulacomes in handy to carefully maneuver the delicate skin and flesh of your fillet, without tearing or bruising it.

A major plus: I use my fish spatula for a lot more than fish. It’s an excellent tool to flip any protein, really—steaks, shortribs, chicken breast, tofu blocks, you name it! It can even sub in for aspiderwhen deep frying.

Cooking this dish? We want to see! Tag@reviewedand@brushlandeatingon Instagram so we can share your masterpiece.

What you need

Illustration of a fish spatula
Credit: Reviewed / Tara Jacoby

A fish spatula works great with this dish—and you can use it when you're not cooking fish as well.

Ingredients

1 pound mild white fish fillets, cut into approx. 1-by-2-inch strips (I use sole) 1½ teaspoons kosher salt (I use Morton’s Coarse) 1½ teaspoons aonori flakes 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine ½ teaspoon white sugar ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper ½ cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon cornstarch ¼ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 1 large egg, beaten 1 cup sparkling water Neutral oil, as needed to fill your frying vessel halfway

Tools

Fish spatula, like Reviewed’s favorite, theWusthof Gourmet Offset Slotted SpatulaMixing bowlDeep-bottomed potFood thermometer(I like the infrared guns)Whisk

Time Needed

45 minutes to 2 hours, 15 minutes, depending on marinade

困难

Medium

Yield

1 pound fried fish

How to make Seaweed-Marinated Fried Fish

Fried fish on a blue plate on a pink background.
Credit: Reviewed / Jenny Dorsey / Tara Jacoby

A fish spatula is as essential as the white fish in this recipe.

Step 1: Make marinade

将鱼、盐、aonori片,绍兴wine, white pepper, and sugar in a bowl. Marinate fish for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours, in the refrigerator. Let the fish come to room temperature approximately 10 minutes before frying.

Step 2: Make tempura batter

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Add egg and sparkling water, then whisk to combine. Do not overmix—a few lumps are fine.

Step 3: Fry fish

Heat oil to approximately 360°F. Carefully dip a piece of fish into tempura batter, letting excess drain off, before adding to frying oil. Make sure to not overcrowd the pot with too much fish! Fry 2-3 minutes until fish pieces are golden brown, then drain on paper towels.

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