My family and I went to have lunch at a nyonya restaurant and one of the dishes we order was Ikan Tenggiri Masak Lemak. It was very delicious; the fish was very fresh and the sauce was creamy with a tinge of sweetness, saltiness and sourness. So, I decided to replicate it at home. The resulting dish was similar to that we ate at the restaurant.
Ingredients:
a. 2 slices of ikan tenggiri
b. For blending
- 10 g chili padi
- 8 g dried chili
- 75 g shallots
- 25 g garlic
- 50 g lemongrass (white part only)
- 20 g fresh turmeric
- 20 g galangal
- 20 g ginger
- 25 g belacan, toasted
- 15 g candlenut
- 1 cup water
c. For cooking
- all of the blended ingredients
- 1/2 cup cooking oil
- 3 g assam keping
- 1 cup water
- 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
- 1 cups thick santan
- 2 pcs of kafir lime leaves
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp sugar
Method:
- Blend all ingredients stated above under "For Blending".
- Heat up pan with cooking oil.
- Add all of the blended ingredients to the pan.
- Fry them till they are fragrant and oil splits from the ingredients.
- Add water, assam keping and lemongrass.
- Let the sauce simmer slowly for about 5 minutes.
- Add the santan and let it boil. (If sauce is too thick, add some water. It should not be too thin either.)
- Add kafir lime leaves.
- Season with salt and sugar.
- Add the tenggiri. (Do not overcook.)
- Serve with white rice.
