Fish Fillet Hot Salad

I probably first tried the hot salad at a wedding or some other celebration's lauriat banquet. And it was most likely a Hot Prawn Salad. Mostly only the Class A Chinese restaurants had this on their menu, but since then it has become very popular and every Chinese restaurant has put a version of it on their menu. I would always look forward to hot salad whenever attending celebrations at Chinese restaurants, and starting a couple of years ago, have started ordering hot salad myself (it's a bit expensive). My experiences with various restaurant's hot salads wasn't always good. Most were so-so, and some disappointing.

So a few months ago I tried making hot salad at home. Since we had some fish fillet in stock, I used that instead of prawns. I have actually tried some salads that used chicken! That wasn't so good. Of course using cocktail prawns would be best. But since I didn't have prawns, I used fish instead. And my salad is actually much better chilled!

First, slice some fish fillet into bite-sized pieces. Next, add some rice wine to help remove the fishy taste. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Mix well, making sure the salt & pepper are evenly distributed. Add a lot of cornstarch to the fish, making sure that the fish is well coated with cornstarch.

Heat a deep frying pan with enough oil for deep frying. Fry the fish, a few at a time, until cooked, about 2-4 minutes, occasionally stirring the frying pan to make sure that the fish does not stick to the pan and is cooked evenly. Drain excess oil.

Open a can (or two!) of fruit cocktail, drain the syrup and reserve it for another use (juice, perhaps?). In a bowl big enough to mix everything in, put the fruit cocktail, some Miracle Whip (put more if you want a creamier and thicker consistency), a little condensed milk, and salt and good quality ground pepper (or freshly ground) to taste. Mix well. Finally, add the fried fish fillets and mix well again.

You have the option to eat it now or let it chill. I suggest letting it chill. The sauce thickens when cold to make for a yummier salad.