Country 24: Brunei - Ikan Sambal: Fish with Spicy Tamarind Sauce

Something I love: dinners that come together in half an hour.

My mum used to have a cookbook that was all about quick and easy dishes to cook in half an hour or less. It was the first recipe book that I really vividly remember, and I think by the time I was 18 I had already cooked several of the dishes and marvelled at how easy they were. I definitely remember emailing her when I was at university asking her to send me several dishes that I had fallen in love with from that book. I still have them saved to my inbox somewhere, despite her sending them 7 years ago!

I wasn't sure what to expect from this dish, and one thing I definitely don't tend to pay attention to is cooking times in this project. I just always assume that because I consistently do not know what I'm doing, I think it will take longer than usual.

This recipe literally took me about 30 minutes from beginning to end, including all of the prep work. Heaven. My partner seemed genuinely surprised when I gave him a 5 minute warning that dinner was ready, because it came so quickly after I had started.

I actually made parts of this dish up. I was originally going to serve ikan sambal with kelupis which is basically a parcel of steamed glutinous rice. I ended up not doing this bit because the rice required soaking for 4 hours, and like I mentioned, I'm not good at checking cooking times before I start. But I took the elements of kelupis and just cooked them without the preparation and the steaming, and voila - I had coconut rice. I also served the ikan sambal with a side of green beans which both of us were very happy about. I think I'm going to need to start serving my dishes with a side of green vegetables just to ensure that we have fibre in our diet!

I think this dish was delicious. The coconut rice was divine and I thought the turmeric gave the fish an interesting flavour. I've never use tamarind sauce in my cooking (and it took me a while to find it as well, I'm so relieved we have a Waitrose nearby that stocks weird and wonderful foods), so had no idea what to expect from it, but I thought the sauce was tasty, although a bit gritty because my food processor didn't blend all the shallots into a paste.

My final amendment to this dish is that I used red onions on the top rather than white onions. Either would be fine, but I preferred the colour that the red onions gave. After Brazil yesterday and Brunei today, I feel like we might be having a colourful week (and hopefully no more beige!).

I adapted a recipe that I found here.

Ikan Sambal - Fish with Spicy Tamarind Sauce
Serves 2

Ingredients

For the fish:

• 2 firm white fish fillets (I used basa)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, sliced into rings

For the sauce:

• 5 shallots
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 small fresh chilli pepper
• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the rice:

• 3/4 cup rice
• 400mL coconut milk
• 2 spring onions, chopped

Instructions

1. Rub the fish fillets with salt and turmeric, cut them into four pieces (or 2 if they are small fillets), cover, and refrigerate.
2. Add rice, coconut milk and spring onions to a saucepan. Bring to boil then simmer for 10-15 minutes until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.
3. Place shallots, garlic, and chilli pepper into a food processor and pulse until they form a paste. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan and add shallot mix. Fry for about 3 minutes.
4. Mix tamarind paste with 1/4 cup warm water and add to shallot mix with sugar and salt. Stir to combine everything, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes until it thickens. 
5. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan with 1.5 tablespoons olive oil and pan fry fish over a high heat for 5 minutes. Flip fish and fry other side until it flakes easily.
6. Serve: place rice on dish, top with fish and sauce, then add red onion rings on top.