Whole Deep-Fried Sea Bass in a Spicy, Sweet and Sour Japanese Dressing

Nanban roughly translates as ‘Southern Barbarians’, referring to Portuguese merchants and missionaries, among the first Westerners to enter Japan via the island of Kyushu. With them, they brought South American chillies, their love for deep-frying foods, and their habit of marinating them in vinegar and chillies. It was not long before the Japanese took a fancy to these new flavours, creating Nanban Sauce, a zingy, sweet, sour and lightly spicy accomp