Belacan Dinner

Ikmal has been home for over a week now. Despite coming down with a cough and cold, he is ravishing all the food he had missed and some which he had not eaten before.

Yesterday it was Paddington pancakes and Vietnamese food at one of the popular shopping malls. Tomorrow he is going to another shopping mall with his friends and has been given tips by his sister on which restaurant to patronise.

Tonight's menu is one of Ikmal's favorites. It is a pity that fish is expensive at the place where he studies and he cannot find grated coconut. The dinner was cleaned up in minutes with no leftovers at all.

The meal consisted of rice with fish in sour gravy (Kuah Pindang), grilled chinchards (Cencaru) accompanied by sambal belacan (chillies grounded with heated shrimp paste) and angled beans kerabu.

To make the pindang is very easy. Pindang is suitable for people on a diet as it involves only boiling.

Things you need:

2 medium size ikan kembong or mabong (mackerel). You can also use ikan parang, ikan tamban (herring) or Spanish mackerel (tenggiri). Gut and clean fish. Rub salt and turmeric powder to fish and let stand for 5 minutes.

To be blended in an electric blender:

2 large onion or 6 shallots
4 fresh red chillies
1 (2.5 cm) cube dried shrimp paste(belacan)
2.5 cm ginger
2.5 cm galangal

1 lemon grass stalk, bruised

3 - 4 pieces dried tamarind skin (asam keping)

1/2 ikan bilis or anchovy stock cube
1 tsp salt
700 ml water

Optional:

2 sprigs polygonum leaves ( daun kesum)
1 torch ginger flower ( bunga kantan), sliced fine

or

sliced cucumbers

Cooking Method:

Place all the blended ingredients, lemon grass and dried tamarind skin in water in a pot. Cook to a boil. Add salt and stock cube and the optional ingredients. Lastly, add in the fish, stir by adding the liquid to the fish without disturbing the fish. Fish cooks very fast and cooking it for too long could break it to pieces.

To prepare the grilled fish:

Grill the cleaned, slightly salted chinchards, by placing them on a heated grill lightly greased with a little cooking oil tp prevent them from sticking to the grill or skillet. Grill should be on low heat. I prefer the fish to be slightly moist when cooked. No salt is required if the fish is fresh.

Sambal Belacan:

Sambal belacan is simply pounding about 3 red chillies with 6 bird chillies in a pestle and mortar and then adding about 2.5 cm cibe heated belacan and finally adding tamarind juice or lime juice.I do not add salt or sugar as I feel they are not necessary. The belacan is already salty and I do not fancy sweet sambal as sambal is supposed to be hot.

The angled beans kerabu will be posted at a later date.