25-Minute Sweet and Sour Fish

If you need a quick weeknight dinner, my mom’s easy sweet and sour fish recipe is for you. Made with salmon and an amazing sweet and sour sauce, her unique take on this dish makes it even better than what you get at restaurants. Included in this blog post are substitutions for different ingredients and how to prevent your dish from becoming too soggy.

When it’s that hot, I only want to make super easy recipes, and it seems like you guys seem to like that too. Some recipes you guys have been making like my Chinese chicken and mushroom, Shrimp Stir Fry, and Ga Kho are not only tasty but also so easy to make. So I wanted to continue the trend of easy, simple weeknight dinners with this sweet and sour fish.

How my mom makes sweet and sour sauce

I had never made a sweet and sour dish before, but thankfully, my mom makes this dish all the time. This one in particular is one she prefers to sweet and sour chicken or sweet and sour pork, and you can use a variety of fish to make it. My mom’s sweet and sour sauce is made up of a “sweet” ingredient and a “sour” ingredient to make it taste sweet and sour. She typically uses sugar as her sweet ingredient and vinegar as her sour ingredient.

She uses various types of vinegar depending on what she has on hand. Vinegars she’s used are white distilled vinegar, rice wine vinegar (my personal favorite), or apple cider vinegar. In terms of sugars, she usually uses white granulated sugar. You can use also natural sweeteners like honey and agave sweetener, but she recommends tasting the dish as you cook so you can adjust the sweetness to your liking.

Some deets about key ingredients

• Salmon – I love to use salmon for this dish even though it’s not a fish that’s traditionally used because it’s not only good but also available everywhere. If you don’t like salmon or can’t find it, my mom says you can use any kind of firm fish like sea bass, tilapia, or cod. I’ve made this dish with sea bass before, and it tastes amazing.
• All purpose flour and corn starch – My mom uses a combination of all purpose flour and corn starch because it provides the perfect balance between crunchiness and lightness to the coating. I don’t typically see a combination used out in the wild, but I love this unique tweak from my mom. It definitely makes a difference compared to other recipes. You can also use only all purpose flour or only corn starch.
• Rice wine vinegar – This is the “sour” flavor of the dish. I used rice wine vinegar but you can also use apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar. I’ve tested this recipe with all three and found rice wine vinegar to have the best flavor.

My mom’s tips for sweet and sour fish

Use high heat for the stir fry

This is my mom’s #1 tip! You have to use high heat when making this dish. The high heat ensures all ingredients are cooked and the sauce doesn’t become too watery. Cooking on a lower heat will cause the water to seep out of the fish and vegetables, causing them to become mushy and the sauce to be watery.

What can I serve sweet and sour fish with?

I like to have mine over white rice! That’s the best option because it’s very neutral in flavor. You can also serve it with brown rice or quinoa.

Did you make this dish?

If you made this dish, I would love to see!

Follow Cooking Therapy on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag and hashtag it with @cooking__therapy and #beccascookingtherapy.

Stay connected and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all my latest recipes.

Disclaimer: If you purchase anything through a link on this site, I may receive a small commission from the purchase at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I would personally use. Thank you so much for the support!