Crispy Sweet and Sour Cod Recipe by Roz Purcell (2024)

Who else was a fan of a sweet and sour combo takeaway? I was and so was my dad, who only let us get one when my mum was away (sorry for throwing you in the deep end there, John!). I love to recreate my childhood cravings, so this sweet and sour cod recipe is a healthy, hearty replacement for the takeaways of the past.

Ingredients:

– 1 x 800g skinless cod fillet, cut into 5cm x 2.5cm pieces
– 8 tbsp ground almonds
– 2 tbsp olive or coconut oil
– 1 onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
– 1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
– ½ red pepper, thinly sliced lengthways
– ½ yellow pepper, thinly sliced lengthways
– 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
– 5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
– 1 tbsp chilli powder
– 1 x 400g tin of whole plum tomatoes
– 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
– 1 tbsp honey
– 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
– cooked wild rice, to serve
– fresh coriander leaves, to garnish
– 1–2 limes, halved or cut into wedges, to serve

Method:

1. Pat the cod dry with a piece of kitchen paper. Put the ground almonds in a medium-sized bowl and add the cod, tossing to lightly coat each piece.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a non-stick frying pan set over a high heat. Add the cod and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden, crispy and cooked through. Remove the cod from the pan
and set aside on a plate.
3. Put the remaining tablespoon of oil in the same pan, still set over a high heat, then add the onion, carrot and peppers. Cook for 6 minutes, stirring, until softened. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli
powder and cook for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes and break them down with the back of the spoon.
4. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring two or three times, until the sauce has thickened a little.
5. Add the tamari, honey and vinegar and stir to combine, then add the cod back to the pan and cook for 1 minute more until it’s heated through again.
6. Divide between four wide, shallow bowls and serve with cooked wild rice. Garnish with a few fresh coriander leaves and pop a lime wedge on the side.

Roz Purcell’s approach to cooking is simple: use whole foods to live a whole life. Having developed a negative relationship with food that led her to make unhealthy choices, she cured herself by rediscovering her love of cooking from scratch. She used her passion for food to experiment with flavours and textures and develop the most amazing recipes that fuel the body, providing the energy and vitality needed to look and feel great.

Roz began blogging at naturalbornfeeder.com in 2013 to document her love of cooking and to share her recipes. Now in her highly-anticipated second cookbook Half Hour Hero, Roz shares delicious recipes that prove whole foods can taste far better than a pre-packaged meal and that cooking from scratch doesn’t have to take hours.

Extracted from Half Hour Hero by Roz Purcell. Half Hour Hero is published by Penguin Ireland and retails at €23. Photography by Joanne Murphy