Final food posts for the academic year

I've posted both the lamb biryani and assam pedas fish last year. But that doesn't mean we can only enjoy it once.

hehe, the last big dish of the final year, assam pedas salmon fish head.

Assam pedas fish

Things you need

1/3 cup oil

1 cm galangal root bruised

3-4 slices of asam gelugur or 1 1/2 heaped tbsp of tamarind pulp soaked in 4 tablespoons of water, mashed and strained to obtain juice

4 cups water (probably more)

6 thick fich fillets/ heads

4 sprigs daun kesum/bunga kantan( not found in UK so we used fragrant coriander leaves)

3 tablespoons of coconut milk

1 teaspoon of salt

3 anchovy stock cubes

spice paste

15 dried chillies, soaked, cut into lengths and deseeded

10 large onions peeled and cubed

5 cloves garlic shopped roughly

1 Tbs turmeric powder

1 cup water

1. Grind spice ingreidents with a blender (add oil for lubricant)

2. Heat oil and pot over medium heat and stir fry paste and galangal until fragrant for 5 mins.

3. Add rest of water and bring to a boil. Then add the fish,coconut milk, season with sugar and salt. Simmer uncovered for another 8 minutes.

Serve fresh with rice. nyum. Sour and tangy. The thing with malay dishes is its tedious, and leaves quite a mess, but be patient because it is well worth the time and effort.

(Biryani recipe next time inshallah)