Fish with Sour Sauce

Acar Ikan Tenggiri could be translated literally as Fish with Sour Sauce? and what is Tenggiri in English?

Yesterday, I was out of idea on what to cook for iftar. I had a big chunk of ikan merah (red snapper?) and 2 big sliced of ikan tenggiri. So, I surfed for the menu here and I found a recipe and decided to try. I think my mom also has the same recipe but I remember hers is slightly different, with an additional of coriander seed. It was yummylicious to my standard -lah. It has a taste quite similar to Ikan Masak Taucho (Fish Cooked with Fermented Soybean) but not as strong as Taucho style and this one is "friendly" to sinus suffering people who could not take belacan (shrimp paster ) or taucho. The kids love it big time so does Mr. Juan.

Kalau masam-masam ni, my kids sukalah. Have a look at the recipe:



Ingredients:

2 big slices of Ikan Tenggiri - clean, rub the fish with tumeric powder and salt - deep fry until cooked - tossed and put aside.

1 onion - halved and sliced 4-5 shallots - thinly sliced

2 pips of garlic - crushed

Half inch of ginger - crushed

or you can pound shallots, garlic and ginger together with your mortar and pestle.I like it better this way.

1 red chilli 1 green chilli (I was out of this, so you can't see in the photo)

1 tbsp of pounded coriander seed (or 1 tsp of coriander powder)

1 tomato - cut to suit your liking

3/4 cup of tamarind juice - not too thin or too thick

1/2 of water 1 tsp of sugar

1 tsp of ikan bilis granules (optional)

salt to taste cooking oil


Method:

1. Heat up the wok/pan with 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Stir fry the thinly sliced shallot, crushed garlic and ginger until fragrant and slightly brown. Add in pounded coriander seed (if you are using coriander powder, wet it with a little water to make a paste), mixed well and cook until fragrant. Add in ikan bilis granules, sugar, onion and chillies. Cook until the onion caramelised with the sugar.

2. Add in the tamarind juice and tomatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add in water and wait until the sauce simmer. Add in salt and deep-fried fish. Cook until the sauce thickened. Serve hot with rice.

It is not that hard, isn't it. Suitable for mothers who always on the go and "terkejar-kejar" to cook for iftar. Happy trying! :)