Cindy's Societal: My Favourite Ikan Bakar (Grilled Fish) Recipe

I love fish.

Back home in Kalimantan, we eat fish almost daily (at least twice a day - lunch and dinner) and my mum and grandma have a few recipes for marinating and cooking fish that is delicious and healthy. They know exactly which marinate and which recipe would work for different fish based on their natural flavour and texture.

This recipe is something I have only tried recently, but it is so delicious! My mum gave me her recipe for sambal (chilli sauce) but it was WAY too spicy when I made it. The recipe needs a bit of work for my (and my friends') tastebuds.

The following recipe is suitable for a medium sized Pink Snapper (~1.5 kg). I would avoid bigger fish as longer cooking time = burnt marinate. You can also try this with other fish (Bream, Sea Bass, Grouper) as long as it is a sweet/mild favoured with moderately firm white flesh.

Ingredients:

Marinate

1 lemon

1 heaped tsp ground turmeric (tip: turmeric helps to eliminate the fishy smell/taste, I use turmeric in all my fish marinates)

1 heaped tsp ground coriander

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1 shallot, finely diced

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Basting Sauce

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

6 tbs kecap manis

Dipping Sauce (Sambal Kecap)

1 Shallot, finely diced

1 Long Red Chilli, sliced

1 Small Chilli (the really, really hot one!), finely diced

1 Tomato, chopped

Juice of one lime

5 tbs kecap manis

Method:

1. Rinse the fish thoroughly, taking care to remove any remaining scales on the skin.

2. Score the fish on both sides, then squeeze lemon juice all over the flesh. Set aside.

3. Combine the ground turmeric, ground coriander, crushed garlic, shallots, extra virgin olive oil in a mortar and pestle and make into a paste.

4. Rub marinate into the flesh and cavity of the fish and leave in the fridge for 1 hour.

5. While the fish is marinating, prepare the basting and dipping sauces. Simply combine the EVOO and kecap manis and set aside.

6. For the dipping sauce, combine the shallots, chillis, and tomato with the juice of one lime and kecap manis. Leave in the fridge and serve with the grilled fish.

A fish this size will take 15-20 minutes on each side to cook. Medium-high heat, hood down.

Use the basting sauce only at the end, when the fish is almost ready to be taken off the grill.

And done! Serve with Sambal Kangkung and Rice for maximum deliciousness.