Squirrel-Style Marble Goby

Clean the scaled, gutted fish with gills removed, then pat dry. Remove the head, retaining the pectoral fins. Fillet both sides from the neck along the backbone, leaving them joined at the tail. Remove the backbone and ribs, check for remaining bones and pull them out; set the head aside.

Lay both fillets skin-side down. Cut straight into the flesh at roughly 0.5 cm intervals, stopping just before the skin. Make a second crossing set with the blade angled about 45 degrees to form even diamond-shaped strips; keep the skin intact.

Rub the flesh, skin and head with 2 tbsp cooking wine, a little salt, all 10 g ginger and the spring onion. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile divide the 110 ml water into 100 ml for sauce and 10 ml for slurry; divide the 150 g cornstarch into 145 g for coating and 5 g for thickening.

Discard the aromatics and marinade, then thoroughly blot the fillets and head dry. Separate one egg and spread its yolk thinly over the fish; reserve the white for another use. Work 145 g cornstarch over the surfaces and between the cuts. Separate the strips, shake off loose powder and discard unused coating starch. Mix the remaining 5 g starch with 10 ml water for the sauce.

Fill a deep wok with enough neutral oil for frying, keeping it below half-full, and heat to about 170°C. Gently curve the body with scored flesh facing out. Support it on a long-handled skimmer and lower slowly; release once the coating sets. Fry for about 3–5 minutes until pale gold and the cuts open. Fry the head separately until cooked. The thickest flesh must be opaque and flake readily; continue frying if needed, then drain.

Raise the oil to about 185–190°C and refry the body for about 40–60 seconds until firm and golden; briefly refry the head until crisp. Drain well. Arrange the head on the left, body in the centre and rounded fan tail toward the upper right. Turn off the frying wok and leave it on a stable heatproof surface to cool; use a separate small pan for the sauce.

In a separate clean dry stainless steel saucepan, toast the 1 tbsp raw pine nuts over low heat until pale gold; remove. Add a little fresh oil and cook 3 tbsp ketchup gently for about 20 seconds. Add 100 ml water, 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp white vinegar; simmer until dissolved. Add a few fresh peas and cook through. Re-stir the slurry of 5 g cornstarch and 10 ml water, add slowly while stirring and simmer until the sauce lightly coats a spoon. Turn off the heat.

Pour the hot sauce and peas evenly over the plated fried fish, keeping the scored texture visible. Scatter over all the toasted pine nuts and serve immediately. Take care with bones that may remain in the head and tail.