Ingredients

• 2 lemon sole
• vegetable oil
• for deep frying
• 50-75g/2-3oz potato starch
• 1 tsp green chilli
• chopped
• 1 tsp red chilli
• chopped
• 1 tsp ginger
• chopped
• ½ tsp garlic
• chopped
• 2 tsp roughly chopped fresh coriander
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 50ml/2fl oz soy sauce
• ½ lemon
• juice only
• 5 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 lemons
• zest only
• 2 tsp yukari seasoning (available from specialist Japanese stores)
• 2 green chillies
• sliced into rings
• 4 sprigs coriander
• leaves only

Directions

• For the fish
• scale
• clean and fillet the sole (or you can get your fishmonger to do this for you). Clean the skeleton
• then cut in half lengthways
• keeping the backbone intact on one half. Discard the half of the skeleton without the back bone. Using a sharp knife
• skin the sole fillets and cut each fillet into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
• Heat a deep fat fryer to 190C/375F. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous - do not leave unattended.)
• For the marinade and dipping sauce
• place the green chilli
• red chilli
• ginger
• garlic
• coriander
• sesame seeds
• mustard
• sesame oil
• soy and lemon juice into a bowl and whisk to combine.
• Heat the vegetable oil on high heat until smoking. Pour the hot oil into the bowl and stir - the sauce should splatter a little when the oil is added
• so take care.
• Pour half of the sauce into a shallow non-reactive dish and set the remainder aside. Place the sole pieces in with the sauce in the dish and leave to marinate for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile
• dust the sole skeleton with a little of the potato starch.
• Press the sole skeleton between a ladle and a metal bowl or second ladle to bend it
• and carefully place into the hot oil to cook for 2-3 minutes. As it cooks and hardens
• it should form a rough bowl shape. Remove the sole from the hot oil using a large slotted spoon. Drain on kitchen paper.
• Lift the sole from the marinade and coat the pieces evenly in the remaining potato starch. Shake to remove any excess flour
• then drop into the fat fryer and fry for 2-3 minutes
• or until lightly golden-brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
• To serve
• arrange the fish pieces on the curved sole skeleton using it as a serving bowl. Sprinkle with fresh lemon zest
• yukari seasoning
• fresh green chilli slices and coriander leaves. Serve with the little bowl of the dipping sauce.