Asam Pedas
Asam Pedas can be loosely translated as "Sour & Spicy". It is a fish stew from the Minangkabau cuisine of West Sumatra, Indonesia. Today it has variations in Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula.
Although pork or beef variations are not unheard of, this recipe gathers the most common of those variations and attempts to do them justice.
Depending on who you ask they will recommend different kinds of fresh or salt water fish, stingray wings and tongkol (mackerel tuna) seem to be a favorite. Alas, we used two whole 400gr sea basses, heads and all, but in hindsight I would recommend using steaks for simpler handling.
Some other good fish to try this recipe with are mackerel, tuna, skipjack, red snapper, gourami, pangasius, hemibagrus or cuttlefish. All though I'm certain any firm fish meat will do.
Additional Vegetables include okra, tomatoes, eggplant, and long beans or even pineapple are often added to the stew.
Ingredients
- 4 200gr fish steaks (see options above).
- 1/2 liter Fish stock (can be done with the heads you got with your steaks)
- 8 shallots
- 8 dried red chilies (cabai merah besar and birds eye seem popular, but mind the heat level)
- 3 cm galangal ginger
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 cup of oil
- 1 tsp fermented shrimp paste
- 4 tbsp tamarind pulp
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 bunch of Vietnamese mint (Persicaria odorata)
- 1 ginger torch flower (a rare find in Asian supermarkets)
- 8 fingers of okra (optional)
- 2 tomatoes sliced into 8 large wedges
Preparation
Start by putting the dried chilies into 250ml of hot or warm fish stock. Next peel and dice your shallots and add them to the chilies, along with the turmeric and the galangal. Blend it until a homogeneous paste is achieved, the smoother the better.
On a large skillet with a cover, add the oil and set it to medium high heat. Wait for it to get hot before adding the chili mix with the rest of the fish broth. When it boils add the shrimp paste, the tamarind and salt and sugar to taste. If you have Vietnamese mint and the ginger torch flower also add it now. Mix well to prevent burning.
Lower to medium heat, cover the skillet and allow it to stew for at least 45 minutes. Stirring every 5 minutes or so.
When you are happy with the consistency and taste of your stew add the fish steaks and turn up the heat again. Make sure you time the fish right and only flip it over once to avoid damaging the steak. When you have flipped the steaks you can add the okra and tomato wedges to the sauce. Put the lid on the skillet and wait for the fish to be ready.
You can serve the Asam Pedas on deep plates or bowls next to abundant steamed rice.
The stew will feed 4 hungry stew lovers.