Assam Fish Curry

Here’s the recipe that I promised for the Assam Fish that my mum cooked on Sunday…

This is essentially a Nyonya or Straits Chinese dish - an interesting amalgamation of Chinese and Malay influences. The Nyonya or Peranakan culture is a unique and very elaborate one which originated from the Peranakan (Straits Chinese) of Malacca over 400 years ago, and was the result of inter-marriages between Chinese immigrants and local Malays.

From intricate hand-beading on shoes and clothes to labor-intensive, time-consuming grinding of spices to make dishes with complex preparation procedures, the Nyonyas (female Straits Chinese – males are known as Babas) were fiercely proud of their unique culture and their standards for detail, quality, creativity and craftsmanship.

Traditional Nyonya food requires hours and hours of preparation, starting from the pounding and grinding of the all-essential rempah (or spice mix) that forms the basis of all the dishes. Nyonya housewives of the past literally spent their entire days in the kitchen cooking up dishes for their families. Indeed, it is often said that in those days, a Nyonya matriarch would decide upon a prospective bride for her son by listening to the pounding of spices by the young lady. From this she would be able to tell how devoted and skilled the prospect was in her cooking, and thus worthy of marrying into her family!

Nowadays, Nyonya food is also native to Singapore as well as Penang in Peninsula Malaysia, and enjoyed by Chinese, Malays, Indians and Caucasians alike. However, there are some distinct differences that have evolved in the Nyonya food found in Singapore, Melacca and Penang. Malaccan and Singaporean Nyonya food, on the whole, have also taken on Indonesian influences, due to geographical proximity, and are generally sweeter, richer in coconut milk, and has the addition of more Malay spices like coriander and cumin. Penang Nyonya food incorporates Thai cooking styles, with greater tones of sourness, and the greater use of hot chilies, fragrant herbs, and pungent black prawn paste (belacan).

Anyway, back to the fish… we cooked this from store-bought, ready-prepared Assam Curry Paste. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time nor the inclination to spend hours and hours pounding and frying the spices to cook just one dish for dinner. Alas! The lost art of patience and dedication in this fast-food world of instant noodles and burgers! Just give us the taste, minus the hassle.

The main ingredient of the paste is assam jawa (tamarind fruit) which gives the dish its distinctive sour, tangy taste. The pulp of the fruit is pounded together with things like shallots, garlic, lengkuas (galangal), buah keras (candlenut), serai (lemongrass), daun kesom (laksa leaf or Vietnamese coriander), chillies, tumeric powder, belacan and sugar. The paste is then fried in oil until the flavors of all the ingredients have melded together.

We used two types of fish – seabass or cod and small local fish for which I do not know the proper English name. A direct translation of the Chinese name would be “small silver fish”. Hmmm… not much help I know. But any type of firm-fleshed fish would suit this dish fine – tenggiri, even garoupa and mahi-mahi I would think.

click on image for larger view

Normally, the fish would be cooked in the gravy, however, this time around, we steamed the fish separately first for about 5 minutes or so. These small silver fish are very bony, with REALLY tiny bones, so we didn’t want to cook them in the gravy and maybe have them break apart, dispersing their tiny bones into the gravy.

We also steamed the eggplants for about 5 minutes, and par-boiled the okra/lady’s fingers for about the same amount of time.

Whole shallots (to give added sweetness to the gravy) were given a quick sauté in hot oil, before the prepared assam curry paste was added. We added more assam juice for extra tanginess. Then some sugar and soy sauce (or salt, if preferred) was added, to taste. Unfortunately, a lot of my home recipes won’t have exact measurements – both my mum and I (me learning from her) tend to cook with the agar-agar (guesstimate or instinctive) method. Just add what feels, looks and tastes right, and the dish will come out right. I do apologize if some of these recipes appear rather vague.

Once the curry has come to a rolling boil, pop in the shelled and deveined prawns (seasoned with pepper and soy sauce or salt). [Add the fish at this point too, if it was not steamed beforehand]. Next, add the diced tomatoes. Simmer till the seafood is cooked through (about 5 minutes). Add the steamed okra and eggplant. Mix well.

The gravy is done. Pour over the previously steamed fish and serve. The gravy is really good with steaming white rice or mopped up with chunks of crusty bread!

Happy Assam Curry-ing!

Update (31/12/03): As I was replying to an email query about this recipe, I realized I had forgotten to clarify something.
I forgot to mention that only fresh fish that has not been frozen and thawed should be used for steaming. (Some fishmongers sell defrosted fish together with fresh without differentiation, so it might be best to ask). Previously frozen fish, when steamed, tends to have a very "fishy" taste, and the texture becomes rather "off", for want of a better word. The only exception to this would be fish like Chilean seabass or cod (sometimes known as "snowfish" in Asia). This fish is absolutely fine for steaming even after being stored in the freezer for months.
If using frozen fish for this dish, it would be best to fry the fish instead. If using fish fillets, gently dry the fillets with kitchen towels, pat a light coating of cornflour onto the fillets on all sides and pan-fry in hot oil. Similarly, for a whole fish, lightly coat the fish with cornflour and liberally sprinkle salt and pepper in its cavity before frying.
The fried fish can then either be added into the gravy for the last 5 minutes of cooking time or it can be plated and the cooked gravy poured over it.

Copyright © 2003 Renee Kho. All rights reserved.
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