Sambal Fish

Holiday....I really need a break. I have been so busy with my son's examination that I have no time to update my blog. My daily activities were just 'studying' and nagging! Really a tough job especially to control another person. After two months of stress, finally, I can start to write again. I do hope when my kids read these posts in future, they can recall the way I used to nag them.

 

Sambal Fish is one my of favourite childhood dish. I can easier finished up 2 stuffed fish whenever it was served with warm rice. The rice has to be warm or hot rice so that you can get the 'high' sensation.....hot from the rice and chili!

 

In this recipe, I have added kaffir lime leaves in order to give some Thai flavor. The secret of having a good sambal besides the spiciness is the sweetness and sourness. Another secret of having a good chili paste stuffing is to precook the chili paste before stuffing it into the fish as the aroma of the chili paste is stronger after cooking. With this additional step, you can use less oil when frying the fish.

 

Whenever my mom prepares this dish, she will use Hardtail Mackerel fish but today, I have to use snapper as there is no mackerel in the market. To my surprise, snapper turns out to be a better fish as its flesh is so smooth.

Ingredients

9 pieces of shallots
2 cloves of garlic
6 pieces of chilies
3 pieces of Bird's eye chilies (cili padi)
3-4 pieces of Kaffir lime leaves
3 pieces of lemon grass (use only the white portion)
1 tsp of belacan powder
1/2 cup of oil
salt and brown sugar to taste
2-3 tbsp tamarind juice (dissolve 10 g of assam pulp in 4 tbsp of water, liquid strained)

2 snappers (make a deep slit at the back of the fish to create a pocket)



1. Blend all the ingredients together until fine. Blend together with oil in order to achieve a fine texture.

2. Pour all the chili paste on a pan. Then, use medium heat to heat up the pan slowly fry the chili paste till the oil reappear. Taste with sugar, salt and tamarind juice. Let it cool down before stuffing into the fish.

3. Then, heat up some oil in a non-stick pan and then fry the fish using medium heat. Dish up once the fish are done. Serve with some lime and Belacan Dipping Sauce.