Sunday, 8 November 2026 · 28 Jumada I 1448 AH

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Maldivian Food

Sweet and sour fish

Fried reef fish with onion, capsicum, pineapple, chilli-garlic sauce and tomato sauce.

Sweet and sour whole fish.
Sweet and sour whole fish. Photo: Charles Haynes / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Fried reef fish tossed with onion, capsicum and pineapple in a sweet and tangy sauce. It all comes together quickly in one pan.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups reef fish, cut to chilli-fish size and fried

  • 2 onions, cut into large pieces

  • 2 capsicums, cut into strips

  • 1 piece of bell pepper, cut

  • 2 pineapple slices, cut

  • 1 teaspoon cornflour

  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar

  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

  • 1 teaspoon ginger, very finely chopped

  • 1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper

  • 1 teaspoon ajinomoto

  • 1/2 cup chilli and garlic sauce

  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce

  • Another 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

  • A pinch of salt

  • A little oil

Method

  1. Heat a pan and add a little oil.

  2. When the oil is hot, add the onion and capsicum. Stir until they soften slightly.

  3. Add the bell pepper, pineapple and fried fish.

  4. When the pineapple softens a little, add the remaining ingredients one at a time.

  5. Mix the cornflour and sugar with just enough water to dissolve them, then pour it in.

  6. When the sauce comes together, take the pan off the heat.