Fried Fish with Lemongrass, Assam and Soy Sauce / Ikan Masak Asam & Kicap

The first time I fried a fish, I burnt it. It looked more like charcoal-ed fish! Though I fry it better now (way much better), I still dislike doing deep fried chickens or fish. Too much oil and mess involved...

For the sake of eating this delicious, savoury fish dish however, I'm willing to go through the frying process...

This is a Malay dish I'd say, the watery gravy with assam, cili padi and soy sauce - it's the sourish-ness that goes perfectly well with the fried fish that makes me love this soo much! I added lemongrass for a different taste, to which I normally use fresh ginger. Both goes well.
The fish is marinated with a little turmeric powder before it is fried, a common procedure in frying fish the Malaysian way. Chilis are pounded (just once, with the knife) to giving that spiciness a lift, dark soy sauce gives that sweet and slightly salty taste while assam makes it soury, making me want more!

The types of fish that goes well with this typre of cooking is, Indian mackerel (ikan kembung), Pompret (Bawal) and any medium-small sized fish with white flesh. Haven't tried this with Salmon or Trout! Best to use very fresh fish and to clean the fish well and get rid of its fishy smell, rub in some assam (tamarind juice) all over the fish and wash throughly.

:: Fried Fish with Lemongrass, Assam and Soy Sauce / Ikan Masak Asam & Kicap ::
2 Indian mackarel, cut and clean well
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, to marinate fish
1 teaspoon tamarind juice
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 onion, sliced
1 garlic, sliced
3-5 bird's eye chili (cili padi) or 1 green chili, sliced
1/2 tomato, cubed
1 small lemongrass, sliced (or fresh ginger strips)

Firstly, deep fry the fish until outer layer turn crispy, both sides of the fish, and drain the oil. Place on a plate that you'll use for serving later.

Fry onion, garlic, lemongrass (or ginger) in a pan, until softened and add chilis. Pour water, soy sauce, tomatoes and the tamarind juice and stir, bringing it to boil. Add sugar to taste.

Pour the gravy over the cooked fish and serve with rice. Enjoy! :-)