Fresh Chili Assam Fish

Gulai Lada Hidup or Fresh Chili Assam Fish is a kind of spicy sour dish that we rarely see today. This recipe I got from my mother -in -law and is very easy to prepare with only a few ingredients that are readily available in the kitchen. The name of this dish may vary from place to place but it tastes delicious regardless..

The secret to cooking gulai lada hidup or fresh chili assam is, first: stir-fry ingredients should be ground in a mortar and pestle rather than blended . Although it will take longer, but the results are worth it. If you want to save time, grind coarsely in a blender and then mash until fine in a mortar and pestle.

Both, the sauté ingredients should be well cooked to avoid the taste of raw onions and chili. This is the most common mistake made when cooking this dish.

Third, all recipes are basic guides only because the ingredients we use will be different each time we cook, the chili is never the same level of spiciness, Onions may differ in sweetness, tamarind comes in many levels of tartness. By that, it is important that we taste our cooking at every stage and to balance the levels of sour, saltiness, spicy and sweet.

If you want to try a spicy sour dishe that is a little different from usual, you can try this recipe. Hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

500g Fish
2 large onion
5 shallots
7 cloves garlic
1cm ginger
1cm fresh turmeric ( if not available it can be replaced with 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder)
1/2 teaspoon belacan / shrimp paste (5g)
9 fresh red chilies
15-20 pieces of kesum leaves
2 teaspoon of salt or to taste
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 teaspoon of tamarind paste or to taste
1/2 teaspoon of seasoning powder ( if you like )
2-3 birds eye chili ( to be spicy )

Method

1. Cut the red chillies and discard some of the seeds if you don’t want a spicy curry sauce.
2. Mashed large onions, shallots, garlic, ginger , live turmeric, belacan and red chili. You can also use a blender but the taste is not the same compared to when ground in a mortar and pestle.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan and make sure there is enough oil.
4. When the oil is hot, add the ground ingredients . The ingredients to be sautéed should be well cooked to ensure a good quality asam fish gravy, especially onions and chillies. If you don't cook enough, there will be a raw taste that spoils the goulash gravy.
5. The ingredients for the stir fry will look a little dark when they are cooked to taste. Add 3 1/2 or 875ml of water and stir evenly.
6. Add 2 teaspoon of salt or to taste, 1 teaspoon of sugar or to taste checkers 2 teaspoon of tamarind paste or to taste.
7. You can add 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning powder if you like. Depends on individual tastes.
8. Increase the heat until the gravy boils and add the fish.
9. Add kesum leaves and birds eyes chillies if you like spicy curry.
10. Reduce heat and simmer until the fish is almost cooked.
11. Turn off the heat as the fish will continue to cook even after the heat is turned off. This will prevent the fish from being overcooked..
12. The gravy will be tastier if left 2-3 hours before serving because the ingredients are more friendly.