Down memory land recipe

Among other things that I remember most about my late father, is definitely his significant dish called Ikan Asam Jawa (Tamarind Fish).

When I was in lower secondary school, we were in the afternoon session. In the morning, I would go to mom's vegetable stall to help her and by mid morning (around 10.30am), dad would picked me up from the stall to bring me home to get ready for school. Usually, it would be dad's duty to ensure I was fed before going to school. That means, he would cook lunch.

So yes, Ikan Asam Jawa was one of the simple home cook meals dad would cooked for us during lunch. He never really taught me how it was cooked though. But it was a good thing I kept my observation tight that time. Besides, it is a very simple dish to prepare and so kind of easy to come up with the recipe. The only different is, the dish simply doesn't taste the same to that my father cooked. Close, but definitely not the same.

These are the ingredients needed for this simple recipe.
1. Fish
2. Tamarind juice
3. Onions, garlic and shallots
4. Oil
5. Water
7. Corn flour/starch (optional)
8. Salt and sugar to season

The thing about my cooking is that, I don't really have the exact measurement for each ingredient. It is more like 'agak-agak', the term widely use by our older generation when cooking.

So yeah, the tamarind is more like agak-agak according to the quantity of fish I was preparing. The only thing I can tell you is that, this dish serves for 5 pax.







 So, agak-agak lah ya...

Method:

1. Clean fish and cut into two (optional).
2. Soak tamarind in warm water to get the juice.
3. Cut onions into wedges.
4. Pound garlic and shallots.
5. Deep fry the fish till golden brown. Set aside (to toss on the excess oil).
6. On a clean pan, pour 2tbsp of oil.
7. Saute onions, garlic and shallots til light brown
8. Pour in the tamarind juice. Add 1 cup of water (or agak-agak) and bring to simmer.
9. Add salt and sugar to taste.
10. Pour corn flour diluted in water to thicken the sauce. (optional)

And voila!

Have you tried this before? Any other variations?

Til next post!
*hugs*