A Peranakan dish love by many. Sour and spicy, the fragrance from the Assam and Lemon Grass calm your soul. When you are feeling low and lost of appetite, this dish definitely energises you. You will be saying... some more rice, please!
Serving size: 2 to 3
Prep Time: 10min
Cook Time: 15min
Ingredients
Batang fish or medium size grey prawn
(you can also consider large fish head like, Grouper or Snapper)
Assam paste, (about 2 tablespoons or 40g)
Blended chilli paste (click here for recipe) (2 to 3 tablespoons)
Fresh vegetables like carrot, okra, brinjal, tomato, etc... (Vegetables you prefer)
Lemongrass (1 per serving)
Pineapple (canned pineapple about 2 to 3 pieces)
Pineapple juice or from the canned pineapple will work too (100ml)
Preparation
Wash and clean the batang fish or prawn. For batang fish you can consider using rice wine to marinate for a little while to remove the fishy smell. As for the prawn, I will usually remove the intestine.
Use about 2 tablespoons of chilli paste. (homemade chilli paste). 2 to 3 pieces of canned pineapple with approximately 100ml of the pineapple syrup or juice.
It really depends on individual how spicy and sweet you want so please adjust the amount accordingly.
Use about 2 tablespoons or 40g of Assam paste and your preferred choice of vegetables. In my opinion carrots, okra, tomatoes is a must-have.
Another important ingredient is the lemongrass. Cut it into half and smashed the lemongrass open as shown above. This will allow the lemongrass fragrant to be infused easily when cooking.
Using your hand, separate the assam's seed and mashed up the assam's flesh in a small bowl of water (1 Cup). Filter the unwanted stuff as shown above.
About 1 Cup of assam water.
Cooking
First, add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Set to medium heat and fry the lemongrass for about 3 minutes.
Add in the chilli paste to the lemongrass and continue the fry for another 2 minutes at medium heat.
Pour in the assam water and mixed it well.
Add in your favourite vegetables, pineapple and pineapple juice or the pineapple syrup from the canned pineapple. Close the lid, set the heat to low and let it slowly cook your vegetables and soften the pineapple.
Allow about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are softened. If you are adding okra, my suggestion is to add it after 5 minutes as okra can be done pretty quick.
At this point, the sauce should be boiling and your vegetables are done. Add in your fish or prawn and cook it for about 5 minutes to 7 minutes, depending on how big your fish is.
Remain the heat at low and watch your cooking. Do flip the fish in between the cooking time to evenly cook the fish. Avoid cooking for too long as it may overcook your fish or prawn.
And there you have it. Spicy, sweet and sour assam fish or assam prawn.
