Ikan Bakar Portugis My Way
This is my second trials of making ikan bakar Portugis.
The first time I was making the dish was about two weeks ago, but I was using cod fish with shrimps.
This time, I used pomfret fish (ikan bawal) to make our favorite ikan bakar Portugis.
Actually, I made these delicious, aromatic ikan bakar a few days ago, and this post has been on KIV for a few days for editing.
I'm so relieved that I can finally hit the publish button for this post.
Eating this ikan bakar especially when serve with warm rice were so addictive.
The aroma of these ikan bakar were so fragrant, especially when they were baked.
Even as I'm writing this post, I'm still drooling, I can't wait for our next session of having ikan bakar Portugis!
Next time, I want to add a mix of seafoods, baked with the ikan bakar spices with sliced ladyfingers and bitter bean (petai), surely the bitter bean will intensify the aroma of these ikan bakar.
I know some of you might say that my version of ikan bakar Portugis is slightly different from the original version.
And that's the main reason why I have to postpone this post because I was hesitate to share this post initially.
I'm not sure how my readers will response after reading through this recipe, since my version of ikan bakar Portugis differs from the original version.
I didn't add garlic oil to the fish, like in the original version and I love the fragrance of kesum/laksa leaves and torch ginger in my ikan bakar Portugis, instead of turmeric leaf.
All I can say is, don't limit your creativity every time when you cook until your find the right flavors that suit your taste.
These ikan bakar are usually wrapped in aluminum foil and are carefully sealed to prevent the gravy from oozing out from the foil when they are baked.
If you have banana leaf, add a small portion of banana leaf at the bottom of the fish for additional fragrant aroma to your ikan bakar Portugis.
Luckily, I still have banana leaf at home which I bought a week before when I make these ikan bakar.
The banana leaf is cut into rectangles that can fit into the aluminum foil, and each banana leaf pieces are then wiped clean with a damp, clean towel to remove any dirt that attached to the leaf.
If you're a fan of ikan bakar, I would recommend you to try this recipe out.
These ikan bakar is baked with the spices which consist of dried red chili paste, onions, garlic, ginger, galangal, shrimp paste and tamarind juice.
The spices are blended until smooth and is fried until it's color becomes darker and oil separates (pecah minyak).
After that, water is added, but not too much (we don't want to make gravy), just enough to slightly dilute the concentrated spices paste.
You may either blend the spices with plain water, then add in tamarind juice once the it has turned dark red in color, or, you can blend the spices with tamarind juice, then only add in water to the spices later.
After adding kesum/laksa leaves and torch ginger, simmer the spices for a few minutes, just to let the aroma of these herbs diffuse into it.
I like to combine fish with shrimps to make my ikan bakar, it makes my ikan bakar more delicious and flavorful!
These ikan bakar are best served when freshly baked, so spices can be prepared ahead of time and can be refrigerated or frozen until ready to use.
Happy cooking and good luck!
IKAN BAKAR PORTUGIS MY WAY
Category: Grill, Lauk Pauk
Serving Size: 4 to 6
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
To Blend:
1 & 1/2 onions - cut into large chunks
3 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger
1 inch of galangal
1 inch of toasted shrimp paste
Other Ingredients:
13 tablespoons of dried chili paste (or more if you prefer to be more spicy)
1 teaspoon of tamarind paste (add with 1/2 cup of water to make tamarind juice)
A handful of kesum/laksa leaves
1 torch ginger - sliced diagonally
Water for blending spices
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
1/4 cup of cooking oil
2 pomfret fish
Shrimps as needed
Ladyfingers as needed
For Wrapping:
Banana leaf - cut into rectangles (about 7cm X 12cm) and wipe clean
Aluminum foil - cut into 30cm X 24cm rectangles
INSTRUCTIONS:
Prepare The Ingredients:
Clean the fish thoroughly and cut into 2 to 3 parts (depending on the fish size). I cut the fish into 3 parts, so in total I had 6 parts of fish. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For the shrimps, remove their antennas and the sharp edges with a scissor of knife. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Heat oil in a wok or pan.
Blend onion, garlic, ginger, galangal and toasted shrimp paste with water until smooth.
Once oil is hot, add in dried chili paste and stir fry for a few seconds, until fragrant. Then add in blended spices and fry until spices turn dark red in color and oil is separating (pecah minyak).
Add tamarind juice, kesum/laksa leaves and sliced torch ginger. Allow to simmer over low heat for a few minutes. Add more water if the paste is too thick.
Lastly, season with sugar and salt to taste.
Cut ladyfingers diagonally into 1 cm pieces and soak in water until ready to use.
Wrapping The Ikan Bakar:
Lay a piece of aluminum foil on a board and place a piece of banana leaf at the center. Slosh some cooking oil.
Spoon some of the spices on top of the banana leaf, followed by a part of fish.
Top with more spices and add 2 to 3 shrimps and some of the sliced ladyfingers.
Fold both sides of aluminum foil toward the center, make sure one side is overlapped with the other, then fold in the top and bottom ends neatly to seal.
Place wrapped fish on a baking tray.
Repeat for the remaining part of the fish.
Baking The Ikan Bakar:
Preheat oven at 200℃ for 10 minutes.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until fragrant and the fish is cooked through.
Serve immediately with warm rice!
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