Recipe: Assam Pedas Fish

Assam Pedas, or literally "sour spicy," is a classic Malaysian dish. Ask any home cooks in Malaysia--Malay, Chinese, or Indian--and you are bound to get various recipes for Assam Pedas. Everyone has their own interpretation for this favorite dish and there are endless adaptations; suffice it to say, it's sour, fiery hot, and tastes extraordinarily satisfying. When I made my sambal for nasi lemak last weekend, I made a point to prepare some extra spice paste for this Assam Pedas dish. While traditional Assam Pedas calls for ikan tenggiri (Spanish mackerel) or ikan pari (stingray), I used pomfret instead. (In the United States, even in California, it's almost impossible to find fish commonly found in Malaysia.) I love pomfret and it's a good substitute for Assam Pedas. Much like nasi lemak, if you haven't tried Assam Pedas, it's very hard to describe just how wonderful this is. I hope my pictures and recipe do it justice. Recipe: Assam Pedas Pomfret Ingredients: 1 pomfret (1/2 pound to 1 pound) 10 small okras 1 tomato (cut into wedges) 1 teaspoon of fish curry powder/turmeric powder 2 sprigs of daun kesum (Vietnamese mint/Vietnames coriander) 5 tablespoons of cooking oil 1 tablespoon of palm sugar/sugar Salt to taste Spice Paste: 1 clove garlic 1 stalk of lemon grass (white part only) 4 shallots 8-10 dried chillies (depends how spicy you like) 1/2 tablespoon of belacan (prawn paste) Tamarind Juice 1 1/4 cup of water Tamarind pulp (size of a small ping pong ball) Method: Pound the spice paste with mortar and pestle or grind them in a food processor. Set aside. Soak the tamarind pulp in warm water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind pulp constantly to extract the flavor into the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice. Heat oil and fry the spice paste for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the tamarind juice, fish curry powder/turmeric powder and bring to boil. Add the tomato wedges and okras and bring to boil. Add the fish, salt, and palm sugar/sugar. Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Serve hot.