When it comes to grilling seafood, especially fish, there is hardly a recipe better than the ones found in tropical lands. One such exotic grilled fish recipe being the Indonesian Ikan Bakar, which is fish fillet smothered in a fiery spice paste, sambal, covered in a banana leaf and cooked on a charcoal fire. Needless to say, this Malay classic cannot be missed. Follow the recipe below to try out this smoky grilled fish tonight.
Malaysian Ikan Bakar (Grilled Fish) Recipe
A spiced Malaysian grilled fish.
Servings1 fish
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Ingredients
For The Sambal Belacan and Sliced Shallots Dipping Sauce
- 3 fresh red chiliesdeseeded
- 2 bird's eye chilliesdeseeded
- 1tsp toasted belacan
- 2 Shallotsthinly sliced
- 8tbsp water + tamarind pulp
- sugar to taste
- salt to taste
Fish
- 450gram fish fillet or whole fish
For The Sambal
- 170gram fresh red chiliesdeseeded and cut into small pieces
- 1tbsp toasted belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste)
- 140gram Shallots
- 1/4tsp Saltor to taste
- 2tsp fish sauceor to taste
- 2.5tsp sugaror to taste
- Juice from half a lime or one whole calamansi lime
- 2 Lemongrasscut into thin slices
- 1/4tsp Turmeric powder
- 4tbsp Oil
Instructions
For The Sambal
- Grind the chilies, shallots, belacan and lemongrass in a food processor to get a well blended and smooth.
- Heat up a wok and stir-fry the sambal paste until aromatic or until the oil separates from the sambal paste.
- Add the seasonings: salt, sugar, and fish sauce and stir. Dish out and set aside.
For The Dipping Sauce
- Soak the tamarind pulp in water for 15 minutes and extract the juice.
- Pound/blend the red chilies, bird’s eye chilies, and toasted belacan in a blender or a pestle and mortar.
- Add tamarind juice, sugar, salt, and sliced shallots to the sambal. Stir well and set aside.
Grilling the Fish
- Lay a few sheets of banana leaves and grease the surface of the banana leaves with some oil. Lay the fish fillet on top of the banana leaves and add about 2 – 3 tablespoons of sambal on top of the fish. Spread the sambal evenly.
- Place the fish on top of the grill (upper rack with indirect heat) and cover the grill. Wait for approximately 8 minutes (depending on the heat) and flip the fish over to the other side. Add 2 – 3 more tablespoons of sambal on the other side of the fish. Cook for another 8 minutes or until the fish is cooked.
- Transfer the fish and the banana leaves to the lower rack and grill for a couple of minutes with direct heat and cook until you smell the aroma of burnt banana leaves.
- Serve immediately with sambal belacan and sliced shallots dip.
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