Sambal stuffed Mackerel Fry

This is one of the Peranakan / Nyonya recipe that comes from the Peranakans, who are the descendants of early Chinese migrants settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia. 

This is a very easy recipe and can be eaten with hot steaming rice.

Here I have use the ingredients available in my kitchen as normally fresh Turmeric and shallots are used in the recipe but since I didn’t have them, I used powder turmeric and onion. 

P.S. - Belacan is a hardened block of shrimp paste, made from tiny shrimp mixed with salt and fermented used in Malay cooking.

Sambal Paste

Ingredients

1 medium size Onion chopped

4 Garlic Cloves

3 Fresh Red Chillies or 2 tsp Fresh Red Chilli paste

2 Lemongrass stalk

4 Dry Red Chillies

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Sugar - (I didn't use)

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Belacan - Shrimp paste or 1 tbsp Fish Sauce

1 tsp Tamarind pulp

3 to 4 tbsp of Water

1 tbsp Oil

Method 

Add the above ingredients except oil in a grinder and grind the ingredients into a fine paste. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the sambal paste and stir and cook the paste for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep the paste aside to cool.

    

For Fish Fry

Ingredients

4 Mackerel - Slit on both the sides of the back bone

Sambal paste

1/4 cup Oil for shallow frying the fish 

Method

Take the fish. Stuff the fish with one tablespoon of sambal paste on each side of the cut. Take a pan, add oil and heat the oil. Shallow fry the fish on medium low heat till cooked on both the sides. Remove fish from pan. Serve the fish with hot steaming rice.