Shiaoxing Sauce for Crispy Fried Fish

Over the weekend, I craved for fish. It was going to be some deep fried fish, but I wasn't sure until almost dinner time, that I'd end up making my own version of the soy sauce dipping sauce that most Chinese restaurants use for deep fried fish. It turned out well, so I'm sharing it here for you all to try:

First, make sure to make your fish crispy. Whole fish is best and one way to make this crispy is to ensure that your oil to fry the fish in is piping hot. It's best to coat the fish with cornstarch for extra crispiness.

Then make the sauce.

In a small bowl, mix until well combined:
3 T soy sauce
4 T water
1 T Shiaoxing wine (Chinese rice cooking wine)
dash pepper
1/4 T sesame oil
1 1/2 T sugar

Heat up 1 T cooking oil in a small saucepan. Pour soy sauce mixture and cook only until mixture boils. Transfer to another bowl to use. Pour sparingly over the fried fish and garnish with chopped spring onions.

Enjoy while crispy and hot.

Another version of this sauce can be used for boiled shrimp. I would have to experiment on that because I would like to add jalapeno peppers and ginger. Recipe to follow once perfected!