Indonesia is blessed with huge coastal area so seafood is really popular as main dish, especially for those who living close to the coastal area. Ikan bumbu acar is a typical seafood dish from fishing villages near Pekalongan, on the northern coast of central Java.
Category : Seafood
Difficulty : Easy
Preparing time : 40 minutes
Ingredients ;
- 300 g sardines or other small fish, cleaned
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 red chillies, seeded and sliced
- 7 or 8 green/red bird's eyes chillies, sliced (optional - depend on how much you want it spicy)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 4 shallots
- 1 cm fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
- 1 cm fresh galangal, peeled and sliced
- 1 stalk lemon grass, use only the white part, chopped
- 1 medium tomato, cut in wedges
- 1 tablespoon tamarind juice
- 1 salaam leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- basil sprigs to garnish (optional)
Spice Paste :
- 1 shallots
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon white peppercorn
- 1/4 teaspoon coriander
- 1 cm fresh ginger
- 1 cm fresh fresh turmeric
Directions
1. Wash the sardines, drain and marinate with salt. Leave for 30 - 60 minutes. Heat the oil and fry the fish until golden brown.
2. Prepare spice paste by grinding or blending all the ingredients.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and saute the chillies, garlic, shallots, ginger, galangal, lemon grass, tomato, tamarind juice and salaam leaf over high heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add sugar, then the spice paste and fry another 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Combine the fried sardines with the spicy sauce in the wok and add water. Cook for another minute, stirring well, then serve and garnished with basil.