Sweet and Sour Orange Tilapia

Slice tilapia fillet into strips, place into a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Crack the egg over the fish and toss to coat fish evenly. Cover the bowl and marinate fish for 10 minutes.

Slice ginger and scallions into thin shreds and soak in a bowl of cold water. Cut oranges in half and use a reamer to extract the juices.

Coat fish strips evenly in cornstarch and shake off excess starch. Heat 3 cups of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat until it reaches 410ºF ( 210 °C) degrees.  Drop fish strips into the oil one piece at a time to prevent them from clumping together. Fry the fish for 3-4 minutes, until lightly golden, remove with a spider strainer, and place on a plate. Reheat the oil to a higher temperature and fry the fish strips again for another 3-4 minutes, until crispy and golden brown. Remove the fish with the spider strainer and transfer to a plate.

In a medium saucepan, combine  the orange juice, oyster sauce, sugar, rice vinegar and salt, and bring to a boil.  Mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water to make a slurry, then slowly stir the cornstarch slurry into the sauce, followed by 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer the sauce until it’s thickened to the consistency of syrup.  Remove sauce from heat.

Remove ginger and scallion from the water and pat dry with a paper towel. Arrange fish fillet on a plate, spoon orange sauce over fish, then top fish with ½ tablespoon of fresh orange zest, shredded ginger and scallion, and serve.