Spicy Malaysian Grilled Fish (Ikan Bakar)

A classic Malay style grilled fish first marinated in a flavorful spice paste & grilled with coconut oil & banana leaves for a mind-blowing flavor.

Thanksgiving’s just around the corner. Well, tomorrow, to be exact.

Just like the pumpkin madness, my life is now flooded with turkey.

I have nothing against turkey (the country and the bird). It just feels like Malaysia during Chinese New Year at the mall where they’d play Chinese New Year songs over…and over… and over again.

Too.Much.Turkey.

So to balance out all the turkeys in the world, I’m going to do fish.

Yes.

And why not?

Fish for thanksgiving.

No guests will ever come to your thanksgiving dinner from here on? Why, that’s good news, right? No more brain trauma from all the thinking one has to do for menu planning. Better yet no more peeled dried skin from all the dish washing.

Ok no…. seriously. Not only will your guest not NOT want to come ever.. they will want to have a fishy Thanksgiving from now on.

Ikan Bakar (pronounced ee khan bah car) literally means burned fish. A classic Malay style charcoal-grilled fish, it is first marinated in a flavorful spice paste and then grilled with coconut oil and banana leaves for maximum flavor, I like to use fresh husk to wrap my fish and then I throw the whole thing on the grill. This is something I learnt on the First American website.

Take a bite of this with two choices of dipping sauce, be prepared to be blown away.

Traditional, a whole fish is used but Mr.V’s very anti fish bones so fillet it is. You can choose any of your favorite fish from stingray and skate to mackerel, red snapper, sea bass, tilapia, cod, halibut or mahi-mahi.

My only hiccup is that… I don’t have a grill. So I’m searing it on the stove instead. But do not fret because the flavor’s just as ah-ma-zing!

Fish your cuppa tea? Then you’re going to love this Baked Salmon with Wasabi Soy Almonds. Salmon seared to a beautiful crisp & finished in the oven topped with sauce & chopped wasabi soy almonds. 5 ingredients. 10 minutes.

Also, if you haven’t already, check out my last post One Pan Malaysian Claypot Chicken Rice. An uber popular Malaysian street food of succulent marinated chicken, flavor boosting Chinese sausages, mushrooms and rice cooked in chicken broth.

If you like what you see, don’t forget to subscribe and follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter to get the latest post updates. See you there!

Spicy Malaysian Grilled Fish (Ikan Bakar)

 

Save Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

A classic Malay style grilled fish first marinated in a flavorful spice paste & grilled with coconut oil & banana leaves for a mind blowing flavor.

Author: AiPing | Curious Nut

Recipe type: Entree

Cuisine: Malaysian

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 1½ lb fish fillet (I used 4 pieces of mahi-mahi fillet)
• 
  
• Spice Paste
• 10 shallots (short variety)
• 2 lemongrass (white parts only)
• 5 candlenuts
• 3 kafir lime leaves
• 4 garlic
• 1" ginger
• 1" galangal (blue ginger)
• 4 Fresno chilies, deseed half for moderately spicy or deseed more for mild
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ¼ cup oil
• 3 tbs tamarind pulp + 4 tbs water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 
  
• Banana leaves (large enough to cover the pan)
• Coconut oil
• 
  
• Garnish
• Lime
• Cilantro, chopped
• Red chilies, sliced
• 
  
• Dipping Sauce (optional)
• Sambal
• or
• Tamarind Chili:
• 2 tbs tamarind pulp
• 2 tbs water
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 Fresno chili, sliced
• 1 shallot, sliced

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients for the spice paste in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Over medium heat, fry the spice paste for 10 minutes. Add 2 tbs water midway when the spice paste becomes too dry. Add the tamarind pulp and water, salt and sugar. Fry for another 5 minutes. Let cool. Once cooled, coat fish and marinate fish for 1 - 2 hours.
3. Heat a wide pan over medium high heat. Place a few layers of banana leaves on the pan. Drizzle some coconut oil on the leaves. Once the pan is hot, sear the fish (along with the marinade) for 2-3 minutes. Use one hand to lift the edge of the banana leaf and the other hand holding a spatula supporting the fish so it doesn't slide down. Flip the fish by lifting and flipping the banana leaf (this is so the underside coating of the paste and the searing of the fish is untouched.
4. Drizzle some more coconut oil and sear the second side for another 2-3 minutes or until temperature of thickest part of the fish reads 145 F. Again, use the banana leaf to lift and flip the fish onto the spatula. Place the fish on a plate. Garnish and serve immediately with dipping sauce and steamed rice.

Notes

1. Flipping the fish is a tricky business because the coating needs to stick on the fish along with the searing on it. If you ruin it (like I did) just pat it back onto the fish and try better on the next fish. It'll still taste superb.. just doesn't look the part.

2. Banana leaves can be purchased from the frozen section of most Asian Markets. Candlenuts, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and tamarind can be found in most Asian markets (especially Thai markets).

3. Instead of searing on the stove, alternatively, you can wrap the fish in banana leaves and grill for 10-15 minutes (flip once midway) or bake fish in the oven at 400 F for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

3.5.3208