Assam Pedas has got to be one of the most quintessential Malay dishes you can find - I ate tonnes of this growing up and I suppose my spicy food training started young literally because of this dish. Loosely translated to "sour-spicy", it is a fish stew of sorts, with a balanced spicy and sour flavour. You can use just about any fish however I especially love using stingray meats whenever it is available.
This recipe comes from my mama, is tried and tested and totally satisfied my cravings - I managed to successfully get it right the first time round! She usually makes this dish paired with some yummy begedils!
There are 2 ingredients that you absolute cannot substitute to make this dish what it is - laksa leaves and tamarind.
Blend
1 large red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 inch fresh ginger
1 lemongrass stalk, white end part only
1 inch belachan
1 inch galangal
1 generous handful of dried chili
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon black pepper
Cook
4 stingray cuts, cut into chunks
2 tablespoon tamarind pulp, soaked in 500ml water
2 turmeric leaf, cut in chunks
6-8 ladies finger, stems cut
1 cup salted vegetables, cut in chunks
1 cup laksa leaves, removed from stems
1 bunch chives, cut in 3cm slices
Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Blend all ingredients together until it becomes a fragrant chili paste. Add 1 tablespoon of water to get the blender started.
1 large red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 inch fresh ginger
1 lemongrass stalk, white end part only
1 inch belachan
1 inch galangal
1 generous handful of dried chili
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon black pepper
2. In a deep pan or pot with 1 tablespoon of oil, fry down the chili paste until it becomes dry and fragrant.
.
3. Add 500ml of tamarind water, let it boil for 5 minutes. Make sure that all tamarind seeds have been removed.
4. Add stingray pieces, 6-8 whole ladies finger, 1 cup salted vegetables. Add a little sugar and salt to taste. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked.
5. Once the pot of gravy is boiling, add 1 cup laksa leaves, 2 turmeric leaf and 1 bunch chopped chives at the end right before serving.
ALY'S COOKING TIPS
You can add the remainder of the lemongrass into the gravy for it to cook down. The blending only requires the end white part of the lemongrass stalk.
Be generous with the laksa leaves - it gives this dish it's distinct flavour.
Do not cut up your ladies fingers, cook it whole and only cut the tips otherwise your gravy will be gooey from the ladies finger "juice".
As always, mom's recipes are always generous so I always end up with leftovers for our two-person household. You can freeze this gravy for up to a month until you are ready to cook. Just add fish and vegetables when you want to eat it!