Hot & Sour Fish Indonesian style

As featured in Foodgawker and Tastespotting *yay!*

Green tomatoes are such a rare commodities here in this city. So when I spotted them snuggled in the corner of fresh veggie section I quickly grabbed a handful of them. Green tomatoes means sambal lado mudo, ayam cabai hijau, or something fresh and sour with fish. Oh, yummy! In this heat?…  yeah, definitely something fresh and sour. Besides I’ve gotta do something with those fish fillet sitting in the fridge.

For the first few minutes I worked on the imported frozen mackerel I bought 2 days ago. Hadn’t been gutted yet, so it was tough to clean it up properly. Marinated, then slightly grill which I thought a smart idea. But really, who are you kidding. Frozen fish is no comparison to fresh ones. It’s tasty, but very fishy. Soooo… plan B it is!

I used fillets of cod fish. They arrived to me fresh. Excellent, so cod fish it is!

Now the idea is to make something fresh and sour. I settled for the “Asem-Asem Daging” recipe, a Javanese dish. I knew I’ve had it so many times before, one of our monthly menu at home that my mother used to cook for us. But I don’t really like its rather pale look compare to the Padangnese version. So daringly burning red, as if saying “Taste me if you dare!”
I had a plan, I would add a touch of red bell pepper, not to change the taste but merely to give a more appealing color to the fish….

Now you tell me how it looks. Looks extremely spicy, doesn’t it? Ha, fooled you. Except for the sliced red chilies (garnish purposes only), the soup is more sour than spicy. Refreshingly tangy with a nice twist of sour green tomatoes.

(view this recipe in your Iphone by scanning the QR code below)

Yes! This would taste so good…..   Here ’tis:

INDONESIAN HOT & SOUR FISH

Ingredients:
*  1 whole red bell pepper, deseeded
*  6 cloves garlic
*  8 pcs shallots
(put all ingredients above in food processor)

*  2 pcs salam leaves (bay leaves)
*  5 pcs red chilies (optional if you do love spicy)
*  6 cm galangal – bruised
*  8 pcs small green tomatoes, halved
*  spring onions/leeks, cut 2 cm length
*  1 tsp tamarind
*  2 tbs lemon squeeze (adjust to your likings)
*  4 cod fish fillet

Cooking Directions:

1.)  Marinade fish in lemon squeeze + salt for 30 mnts
2.) Heat 2 tbs cooking oil in pan, cook processed ingredients until fragrant
3.)  Add salam leaves, galangal, and tamarind. Add the fish and cook for a few minutes. Add a cup of water
4.)  Add green tomatoes, spring onions/leeks, chilies and lemon squeeze.
Taste it – add sugar, salt & pepper (or a sprinkle of chicken granules/maggi)
5.)  Cook for another 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Serve with hot steamed rice.