Friday, May 29, 2009

Traditional Turmeric Nyonya Assam Fish (Kurau or Stingray)

I have simplified this Nyonya dish to reduce the time taken to cook it. This dish is great to increase appetite on a hot day, especially to those who love hot, sour and spicy food. The secret to Nyonya cooking is how you balance the sweetness and sourness of the dish to your liking. Some families prefer their Nyonya dishes to be very sour but some prefer the food to be less sour but sweeter! Here is my recipe for Nyonya Assam Fish.

Ingredients
Kurau (Snapper) Fish Cut or Stingray, deep fried until golden brown.
Tamarind Juice from a table spoon of tamarind paste, add water to bring out the juice
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste

Blend
Shallots, 5 pcs
Fresh Kunyit (Turmeric), 1” (You can also use turmeric powder, 1 table spoon)
Fresh Chillies , 5 pcs (or chilli powder, 1 table spoon)
Belachan, ½”x1/2”x1/2”
Serai (Lemongrass), 2 stalks

Heat up 3 table spoons of oil in hot wok and sautéed the blended paste until fragrant. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add tamarind juice, sugar and salt to taste. Put in the fried fish and let it cook for a short while. Serve dish with steamed white rice.
Related Post :
1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/01/fried-stingray-recipe.html

3 comments:

foongpc said...

Nyonya asam fish - love this! Yummy yummy!

Anonymous said...

Does this taste like assam pedas?

Pete said...

Foongpc : Brings out the appetite!

Cleff : Taste a bit like Assam Pedas except gravy is thicker!