Ikan Nyat Nyat - Fish Cooked With Spices
Serves: 2 people
Preparation Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients
2 x 300g whole fish - any fresh water fish including tilapia and bream are suitable
1 lemongrass stalk (bruise to release flavours)
3 'salam' bay leaves
500 ml water
500 ml oil for frying
Spice for fish rub:
1 cm fresh turmeric (crushed) or 1tsp powder
1 tsp coriander seeds crushed into powder
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
¼ tsp salt
For sauce:
½ jar Bali In A Jar curry paste
2 tsp Bali In A Jar chilli paste
5 whole small red chilli (optional)
1 tsp crushed lesser galangal
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp crushed shrimp paste
20g chopped palm sugar
½ tsp salt
Cooking Method:
- Mix the spices for the fish rub together in a bowl.
- Clean and score whole fish. Rub the fish with the spices all over including inside the stomach - leave it for a minimum half hour or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat up oil in a non-stick fry pan/wok, shake off the spice rub from the fish and fry until cooked through on both sides. The fish should have a yellowish colour but not be too crispy. Drain excess oil off fish with with paper towel.
- Using a separate fry pan/wok, heat up a tablespoon of oil. Add the spice rub, lesser galangal and shrimp paste to the hot oil and mix through until fragrant. Add the rest of other sauce ingredients together with the lemongrass stalk, salam leaves, and water - then bring it up to boil.
- Turn heat to medium and add the fried fish to the sauce.
- Let it simmer until the sauce is reduced. Keep spooning the sauce onto the fried fish while it is simmering to allow sauce to soak into the fish. and you can keep pouring the sauces on the fish while simmering.
- Once the sauce is reduced to almost dry (ie nyat nyat), remove the fish and sauce and serve.
Serve the fish with steamed rice, blanched green veggies and sides of chilli paste and fried peanuts.