Ikan Bumbu Acar

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.