Assam Fish (Fish in Spicy Tamarind Sauce)

I always look forward to weekends .. tell me who doesn't. These are the two days when I get to chill out and think about what to cook or bake or blog about! I sometimes I find it very hard to decide what recipes to try out as I want to experiment with so many!

I also noticed of late that I have been doing posting up more recipes on cooking rather than baking. Good for my other half as he prefers savoury foods rather than sweets. When I do tend to cook a proper dish I noticed that it is usually chicken. So maybe I should add fish into my repetiore of dishes and they do say that fish is "brain food". Hmm maybe that's the cause of my forgetfulness of late.

This particular recipe is well known and loved in Malaysia. It does not contain coconut milk and therefore keeps better in hot climates. Tamarind or "assam" as called in local Malay language is widely used throughout Asia. The word "assam" means “acid” or in layman's terms "sour". In cooking, it combines well with sugar, chillies and other flavours. Tamarind is also said to have medicinal uses. It cools the system and cleanses the blood. The pulp or paste is rich in vitamins and minerals, and is used in Chinese medicine. The bark is said to treat asthma while the flowers are said to reduce blood pressure. So this particular dish not only has medicinal value, it also stimulates your brain activity (i.e. fish meat). Now what else was I about to say .......



Assam Fish (Fish in Spicy Tamarind Sauce)
Recipe Adapted from "Female Cookbook vol 12"
(Serves 4-5)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 onion, cut into quarters
500g spanish mackeral (tenggiri)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
3 cloves garlic (grind finely)
20g ginger (grind finely)
15g ketumbar (coriander powder)
10g jintan putih (cumin)
15g chilli powder
10g tumeric powder
1/2kg lady's finders
2 cups water
1 1/2 Tbsp tamarind paste
2 tomatoes, cut into halves
2 green chillies - cut into halves
Salt and sugar to taste

Method:

1) Add tamarind paste to the water and squeeze the paste to extract the juice. Then pour tamarind juice through a sieve and leave aside.

2) Heat oil in wok. Fry onion with mustard seeds, garlic, ginger until fragrant. Then add in coriander powder, jintan putih, chilli powder, tumeric powder. Fry ingredients on low flame until fragrant.

3) Add in lady's fingers, tamarind water, salt, sugar, tomato and chillies. Bring to boil. Add in fish. Cook until fish and vegetables are soft.

4) Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Steamed Sago Rolled in Coconut

Malaysian local cakes or "kuih" as we Malaysians call it are more often steamed than baked, and thus very different in texture, flavour and appearance from Western cakes or puff pastries. They are mostly sweet, but some are savoury.

It has often been said that Malaysian cakes and desserts know nothing at all about the word "healthy living and eating". I guess this is somewhat true and being a Malaysian, I'm not going to deny this totally. The local cakes are laden with sugar and/or coconut milk. The younger generation nowadays will tend to make the local cakes with less sugar and coconut milk. However small sacrifices in terms of taste will of course have to taken into account. When making such local Malaysian cakes the common ingredients used will include coconut, pandan leave, palm sugar, glutinous rice flour, sago and tapioca.

For most Malaysian cakes there is no single "original" or "authentic" recipe. Traditionally it was our great-grandmothers or grandmothers who would make such cakes and they never ever had written recipes to rely upon. Such recipes were passed from one generation to another - from great-grandmother, to grandmother to mother and now to daughter. If you were to ask whether it was one tablespoon or two, the usual answer would be "around that" or in local Malay language "agak-agak". They would instinctively take handfuls of ingredients and mix them without any measurements or any need of weighing scales. All is judged by its look and feel, the consistency of the batter and how it feels to the touch.



Steamed Sago Rolled in Coconut
Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients to be steamed:

80g fresh grated coconut (do not use dessicated)
1 tsp salt

Place grated coconut on a plate and place in a steamer. Steam for 15 mins, remove, set aside and cool the coconut completely.

Ingredients for the Sago:

250g sago pearls (soaked in cold water for 15 minutes and drained)
80g grated Coconut
50g caster sugar
50g chopped palm sugar (gula melaka, if not available use caster sugar)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Pandan essence
1 1/2 tsp rose extract (or replace with 2 tsp rose syrup)
A few drops of red food colouring
A few drops of green food colouring
60ml coconut cream (or coconut milk)

Method:

1) Divide the sago pearls into two portions and put them in separate bowls.

2) Add half of the grated coconut and coconut cream into each bowl. Add 1/2 tsp salt into each bowl

3) In one bowl, add the palm sugar, rose extract and red food colouring. Mix the ingredients thoroughly to ensure that everything is combined.

4) In the other bowl, add the caster sugar. Then add the green food colouring and the pandan essence. Mix the ingredients thoroughly to ensure that everything is combined.

5) Steam the red sago for 15 minutes and then add the green sago and steam for another 15 minutes. Let the sago cool a little. Then slice it and roll the pieces in the steamed grated coconut.

6) Serve immediately.

Cook's Note:

This dessert tends to go off if kept too long due to the fresh grated coconut. It does not keep well especially in humid weather. The steaming of the fresh grated coconut helps to keep it from turning off too quickly.