Thursday, September 10, 2009

Fried Trout with Sambal Oelek

sambal oelek trout fish recipe

This is fried fish and sambal. Such a humble dish. If you know me, you'll know that this is the dish that still ties me to my mum's apron's strings. Before I return to Singapore for a visit, she'll ask me what I want to eat while I'm there (don't all mothers do that?). And so I give her a list, but I always plead with her, "Mak, when I arrive, can you have ikan selar kuning sambal tumis prepared, please?" Ikan selar kuning is a type of scad - a small fish with a yellow vertical stripe on the side. Oh, how it makes me happy when I catch sight of that plate of rice, vegetable and the small crispy fish which had been deep fried and generously coated with sauteed red chili paste. So you see, I may not know what is the last meal I want to have, but I am certain of what my first meal home should be, every time.

Cooking Trout
I have yet been able to find scad here. So I try to be adventurous when I go grocery shopping. On a recent trip, I saw that Whole Foods had trouts. I couldn't remember if I had ever tried trout, but it looks like a size that would fit into my wok (good criteria, no?), so I happily picked two. I knew I was going to fry the fish. Instead of using my mum's sambal recipe, I decided to make another version with the sambal oelek I had just made. You can use the store bought version too. The flesh is quite delicate so it should be cooked quickly. Verdict? We like trout and will definitely have it again. The flesh was flaky and sweet, and went well with the sambal. Plus, because the trout was butterflied, there was no bone in the fish which S especially liked.

sambal oelek trout fish recipe

sambal oelek trout fish recipe


Fried Trout with Sambal Oelek

2 trouts (or any fish), cleaned
2 tablespoons rice flour
2 teaspoons turmeric
3 tablespoons sambal oelek (homemade or store-bought)
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3 garlic, minced
1-inch cube ginger, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup tamarind juice (from 1 tablespoon tamarind paste)
oil for frying

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok to medium heat. Put in the sliced shallots and saute until caramelized - about 4-5 minutes. Add in the garlic and ginger. Lower the heat slight so that the garlic doesn't burn. Saute for another minute.

2. Put in the sambal oelek and the sugar. Stir until the sugar melts and then add in the tamarind juice. Continue stirring for about 5 minutes. Remove the sambal and clean the wok.

3. For the fish - dry the fish as much as possible with paper towels. Rub them with the turmeric and then the rice flour. Heat oil to medium high - there should be about ½-inch oil in the wok - should be enough to cover the length of the fish. As soon as the oil is hot, put in the fish. The oil should be sizzling. You can fry one at a time if your wok is not big enough. Fry until brown and then turn over carefully - about 2-3 minutes on each side.

4. Remove the fish to a paper towel to drain a little of the oil. Then put them on a plate and spread the sambal on each fish.

Serve with rice and a vegetable side dish.

5 comments:

Sam said...

You should write a cook book, reading your blog inspires me to take to the kitchen...well, almost heh heh ;) seriously, I'm impressed, am sure the food tastes every bit as good as it looks. I haven't shown your blog to A. He will be insanely jealous of S. Spoil market lah you!

Hope you guys have been having a calm and peaceful fasting month.

love you lots and kirim salam to S from us, and a big kiss for Dexter.

xx
Sammy

high over happy said...

Hey babe, I miss you guys - especially Mish - still thinking of her in Boulder (and still talking about her to S). Tell her Wak just bought her birthday present - late but it took a while to find something nice-lah.

Thanks for the wishes - hope you are having a wonderful Ramadan - hugs and lots of love to S and Mish Mash.

Anonymous said...

Makes me hungry. The sambal looks awesome.

jordan. said...

Okay, I have read this whole recipe twice and I still can't figure out where to put the dates! What gives?

I think I need to try this though. You have so many fish-related recipes that we never even come close to -- and given the availability of good, fresh, cheap fish, that's unacceptable. Yours also looks quite tasty.

Is that some broccoli with garlic in the background? I think maybe some nice fresh chard would be about right with this dish.

high over happy said...

Anon - Thanks :)

J - Be careful what you wish for - dates may be imminent in your future - like say Saturday? We love fish so we always look for ways to have it more often. Smaller fish is healthier and more economical that the larger ones. As for the vege - it's broccolini - S's favorite since we had it at Ad Hoc.

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