18/07/2025
Fried seabass in chili sauce or we call "sambal ikan goreng". This is one of our classic dish in Malaysia. Almost every household , foodstalls and restaurant have this dish on their menus.
This is one of my favorite especially when it's made with Indian mackerels or "ikan kembung" paired with some raw vegetables or herbs like cucumber, winged beans (kacang botol) and Malaysian salads called "kerabu".
Fresh Indian mackerels are almost impossible to get it here, therefore I used seabass instead. It's a simple recipe though but it's finger licking good.
Recipe :
1 seabass
-Cut in 1½ cm slices, marinate with salt and turmeric. Before frying, coat the fish with cornflour. Keep aside after frying.
3 - 4 medium onions - sliced
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 cm ginger - sliced thinly
1 medium tomato - diced
Chili paste to taste
1 TBSP Maggi chili sauce
1 tsp sweet soy sauce
Few sprigs of vietnamese mint (daun kesum)
150 ml Water (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil
METHOD:
-Heat oil the pan. Add onion, ginger and garlic and fry till aromatic and cooked.
-Add diced tomato and cooked till tomato is soft.
-Add the chili paste (cili kisar) and stir fry till oil separated. At this stage, you may add some water if it's dry and let it simmer till oil separates. This step is crucial in order to ensure the chili is cooked properly and the rest of the ingredients caramelise well to enhance the taste of this dish. I mostly do it three times.
- now add water and let it simmer till most of water evaporates. Again this is personal preferences.
- add the salt, vietnamese mint leaves, maggi chili sauce and sweet soy sauce and mix it well.
- now add the fried fish and coat it well with sambal. And let it simmer for few more minutes. Taste the seasoning and adjust accordingly.
-Done. Serve with hot white rice and some vegetables on the side.
Note:
If you want an additional flavor : please add serai at the beginning. Or lime leaves. Or even curry leaves if you prefer. Endless varieties.
