Shanghai-style Smoked Fish (燻魚)

This is another traditional Shanghai-style dish.  Even though the name says "smoked" dish, it only tastes like it.  There is no need to place the fish in a smoke chamber or anything like that.

1. Get ~1 lb of Grass Carp steak (preferably the cut from 1/3 of the fish from the tail-end to 1/6 of the fish from the tail-end, so the pieces are in oval shape, as shown in the picture here).  Note- Might be useful to consider cutting the steak further into 1/2"-thick slices yourself, or just buy pre-sliced oval pieces.  The markets I go to can't seem to cut the steak into thinner than 1" slices, for lack of proper tools.  If you choose to do this, you need a sharp knife (to slice through the meat) and a cross-cutting tool, such as a steel-wire cutter from Home Depot (to cut through the bones).  Cutting through the bone with a knife won't work since heavy pounding will surely crush the flesh on the underside.
2. (Marinate the fish steak)  Mix 2 Tbsp Rice Cooking Wine, 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce, 1 stalk of green onion (chopped into 2" segments), 3-4 slices of ginger.  Add fish steak pieces into the mix, and let sit at least 2 hours (preferably overnight).
3. (Prepare the Soaking Sauce, used for soaking the steak after frying)  Mix 1 tsp Five-Spices, 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce, 2 Tbsp Rice Cooking Wine, 3 Tbsp Brown Sugar, 1 Tbsp of Dark Vinegar, 1/2 cup water in a 6-8" flat-bottom pan, bring to boil, cover the lid, and let simmer for 2-3 minutes. 
4. Take the marinated fish steak pieces out, drain all liquid, and wipe gently with paper towel.
5. (Medium-to-Low Heat Fry) Heat 1/4" vegi-oil in a 8-10" flat-bottom pan for 3 minutes.  Place steak pieces in the pan, cook till the surface is lightly golden (for ~2-3 minutes each side).  Take out the pieces and let sit for 5-10 minutes to cool down.
6. (Medium-to-High Heat Fry) Heat the oil again for 2-3 minutes.  Place fish pieces in the pan again, cook till the surface is golden brown or a bit darker (for ~4-5 minutes each side).  Note- Cover the lid or use a splatter screen.  
7. Take out the fish pieces, drain oil with a strainer, then place the pieces in the Soaking Sauce prepared in Step 3 above.  Let soak for 30-60 minutes each side, and serve.   Here is a finished product.