Asam Fish

You would think of spicy dishes when it comes to Malaysian dishes.  Curry and rendang dishes are some of the common ones but asam dishes should not be forgotten too.  Today we are cooking Asam Fish the Malaysian way!  You’ll learn how easy are spicy dishes and fish dishes.

Now, question marks float in your head when you look at the name of herbs and spices used in Asam Fish recipe.  I know…therefore I’ve got photo with name of ingredients labelled.  Don’t worry if you don’t know or never seen them before, they are easy to get from supermarket, mini market, sundry shop, morning/ night market stalls – especially those operated by Malay or Indian for they are the spicy dishes experts!  Just tell them what you need.

I’m using Malay names for these spices and herbs but just in case you’re more familiar with English names, they are enclosed in italic font in the Asam Fish recipe below.

ALL ingredients in Asam Fish recipe below are essential (please note, just in case you can’t find some of them) especially irreplaceable are daun kesum, bunga kantan, serai and asam jawa juice.  Em…ok, some may be reduced or replaced such as shallot and garlic which contributes to the sweetness of this Asam Fish dish, can be replaced with more chicken powder and sugar but really not advisable though.

For those who can’t take too spicy, I’ve made cili padi optional in this Asam Fish recipe.  So this Asam Fish recipe is only mildly spicy.  Add cili padi to get extra hot Asam Fish if so desired.

Follow this Asam Fish recipe closely, you’ll love it!

Assam Fish Recipe (Serves 3)

Asam Fish Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp of cooking oil
• 4 stalks of daun kesum (tied to knot) – Vietnamese coriander/ laksa leaf/ polygonum
• 1 no. of bunga kantan (halved) – wild ginger bud
• 2 tbsp of asam jawa (melted in 100ml of water for juice, strained off the residue) – tamarind juice
• 600ml of water
• 100gm of lady’s finger (sliced/ halved)
• 3 pcs of fish fillet (about 400gm)
• 1 no. of large tomato (wedged)

Ground Ingredients (combined):

• 2 tbsp of chilli paste
• 1 tbsp of fish curry powder
• 1 tbsp of chicken powder
• 5 nos. of shallots
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2” of ginger (sliced for ease of grinding)
• 3 nos. of buah keras (crushed) – candlenuts
• 2 stalks of serai (sliced for ease of grinding) – lemongrass

Optional:

• 50gm of cili padi (crushed/ ground)

Seasoning:

• 2 tbsp of sugar
• A pinch of salt

Asam Fish Ingredients

Preparation:

1. Heat cooking oil in a deep pan or wok.  Stir fry daun kesum, bunga kantan and ground ingredients till fragrant.
2. Add asam jawa juice.  Stir to mix and bring to simmer.
3. Add water and bring to boil.
4. Add lady’s finger followed by the fish.  Bring to boil then simmer.
5. Season with sugar and salt.
6. Toss in tomato wedges and stir to mix evenly.
7. Ready to serve.

Asam Fish Cooking Method

If you follow closely the Asam Fish recipe above, I bet even your pan will be licked clean at the end of the day.  Except for daun kesum and bunga kantan (unless you ground them as well and yes, you may do so).  Have a spicy day

Asam Fish

This post is tagged asam dishes, asam fish, asam fish recipe, fish dishes, fish recipe, fish recipes, Malaysian dishes, seafood recipes, spicy dishes, spicy food recipes