We eat fish every which way we can. Sometimes in filet form, more often than not in its entirety. From the spicy concoctions of the south, to the curries of the north and every nuance in between, we Malaysians really cannot get enough of fish. It took a long while to whittle this list down to just 5, but now we have it: our favourite 5 Malaysian ways to prepare fish. For those with gravy, it will always taste better the next day!

Asam pedas ikan pari

A speciality down in Johor and Melaka, you can find roadside huts selling just asam pedas and nothing else. It is a fantastic melange of sour, spicy, and je ne sais quoi that no Southerner can go long without. Almost all fish (or meat, for that matter) can be cooked in this manner. In this recipe we used stingray, but parang, tenggiri and merah are all common choices. Serve with hot white rice, ulam, sambal belacan and soy sauce.

Ingredients:

Pounded
6 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1” piece ginger
½” piece fresh turmeric




4 tbps cili boh (soak dried chillies, drain water and blend into a paste)
½ cup of air asam jawa (tamarind juice)
3 cup water
250g stingray, cut into chunks
2 stalks daun kesum (laksa or polygonum leaves)
3 pieces of salted vegetables (sayur masin)
6 lady fingers
3 tbsp cooking oil

To taste
Salt
Sugar
Black pepper

Method:


Heat the oil in a medium-sized pot. Fry the pounded ingredients until fragrant. Stir in the cili boh and fry until the oil rises to the top – do not skim this off! Strip the laksa leaves off the stalks and stir it into the paste. Pour in the asam jawa juice and stir well.


Put in the stingray of chunks, salted vegetables and water. Bring to a boil then reduce flame to a gentle simmer. Season with salt, sugar and black pepper.


Add the lady fingers, simmer for a few more minutes.

Tip: Do not slice the lady fingers too early or put them in the gravy too early or they will turn slimy. Cut them right before putting them in at the very end.



Steamed fish

This is by far the simplest, healthiest, mess-free preparation for a fish. Steaming fish both retains and brings out the best things about a fish: flaky and firm meat, clean and sweet flavour. Grouper is commonly used but as long as it is fresh from the market and not defrosted from your freezer, it is fine. Ask your fishmonger for recommendations based on what he has on sale and cook it on the same day.



Ingredients:
1 whole fish, gutted, cleaned and butterflied.
2” piece ginger, julienned
1 stalk spring onion, sliced lengthways into strips
½ cup coriander leaves
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
4 tbsp light soy sauce
¼ tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 dashes white pepper powder

Method:
Find the biggest wok you can. Fill it up with water and bring to a rapid boil. Hold the fish in a spread-out position, dip it in the water and pull it out immediately. This sets the fish in position, so to speak. Put the fish onto a steaming plate, or on top a sheet of foil. Sprinkle half of the ginger, spring onion, and rice wine vinegar over it. Place the steaming plate over the water and cover the wok tightly, or wrap the fish up in the foil and place into a steaming basket and prop over the water. Steam for about 10 minutes.

In the last few minutes, heat up the cooking oil in a separate pan. Then remove the fish from the wok. Some folks discard the water that runs out of the fish when steaming – I love it. Sprinkle the remaining ginger and pour the hot oil over the fish. In the pan used to heat up the oil, stir together the soy sauce, sesame oil and remaining rice wine vinegar. Once it thickens slightly, pour it over the fish and sprinkle the pepper, remaining spring onion and coriander leaves.

"There are few things in life greater than a simply grilled fish..."

Ikan terubuk bakar

I have said this before, and I will say it again: there are few things in life greater than simply grilled fish. Get grilled ikan terubuk right and the skin crisps up into a chewy, sticky-sweet delight, almost like fish candy. The flesh is also sweet, though riddled with tiny pin bones. Interestingly, many people I know who do not eat fish because it is too bony, relent to picking through this fish because it is just too good. Utterly divine eaten on its own, or with sambal bawang, air asam or sambal kicap.



Ingredients:
1 whole ikan terubuk, gutted, cleaned, but do not scale!
Oil
Salt



Method:
Rub oil all over the fish. Sprinkle salt evenly on both sides of the fish. Place the fish gently into a dry medium-hot wok. Cover with foil and let it fry gently for about 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove the foil and turn the fish over. Be careful not to let the skin stick to the wok; if it is, scrape gently so it comes off in one piece. Cover the fish again and let fry for another 10 minutes.
The fish is cooked when a metal skewer inserted into the flesh behind its head (the thickest part) comes out warm. If it is hot, it is overcooked. If it is cold, fry a little longer in 1 minute increments.

For sambal bawang:
2 large red chillies
6 bird’s eye chillies, more if you want it hotter
1” piece of belacan
2 small shallots
2 limes (limau kasturi)


Pound the chillies, belacan and shallots together until fine. Squeeze the juice from the limes into it and mix well.

Tip: Terubuk is notorious for being riddled with little bones. To overcome this, get someone to hold one end of the fish while you hold the other. Tug gently – this aligns the bones so it is easier to pick out later. Do this before oiling and salting the fish.



Ikan patin masak tempoyak

I do not enjoy durian. There, I said it. But tempoyak? How is it that something that is so stinky can ferment into something so delicious? Musky, sweet, sour, it is one of my favourite local condiments. Many dishes in the central and northern states use tempoyak in their cooking. In this recipe, tempoyak and patin come together in a dish containing so many different notes, it tastes like a jazz song. If you have never had local freshwater fish before, now is the time.



Ingredients:
1 whole ikan patin, gutted, cleaned and cut into chunks. Soak in tamarind juice and lime juice for an hour to get rid of the fishy smell/taste.

Pounded:
6 shallots
3 cloves garlic
½” piece fresh turmeric
12 bird’s eye chillies

1” piece ginger, bruised
5 tbsp fermented durian (tempoyak, available at most markets and now even supermarkets)
2 stalks daun kesum (laksa or polygonum leaves)
3 cups water
3 tbsp oil

To taste:
Salt
Sugar

Method:
Heat oil in a pot. Fry pounded ingredients until fragrant and the oil rises to the top. Stir in the fish and pour in enough water to cover the fish. Add the julienned galangal at this point. Mix in the tempoyak well and bring to a boil. Once it has boiled, turn down the heat and put in the laksa leaves. Taste and season with salt and sugar accordingly. Simmer until the fish is cooked, about 10 minutes.

Fish Head curry



Fish head is an intimidating thing. Most people cut it off and throw it away, and in many countries, you can get it for free from the markets else they give it to the cats. But get within its folds and crevices, you find the sweetest flesh of the fish. The cheeks are a favourite, and the eyeballs are too for some. One of the most popular ways to enjoy fish head in this country is with assam curry. Tangy and spicy, it provides the perfect backdrop to one of the most underrated cuts of meat in the world. Dig in.

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