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Curry Fish Head - A mean pot of curry, and goes very well with steamed white rice. Enjoy this great recipe in your home!
Table of Contents
My two-month vacation here in Penang, Malaysia is coming to an end.
Before I leave, I wanted to share a very delicious recipe with you (a specialty of my second sister who is an excellent cook )—Curry Fish Head.
For sure, I am going to miss this dish when I return to the United States because some of the key ingredients such as bunga kantan is not available. Furthermore, it’s impossible to find very fresh fish head to prepare this dish.
This Curry Fish Head recipe is essentially a Nyonya ikan tumis recipe, but made with Garoupa fish head so I would call this a Nyonya Curry Fish Head as there is no curry powder and curry leaf used.
Regardless, it’s a mean pot of curry and goes very well with steamed white rice, and this is just one example of the type of dishes we eat in Malaysia. Please take note that this recipe is in metric measurement for easy reference. Enjoy!
What To Serve With Curry Fish Head
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Curry Fish Head
Ingredients
- 600 g Garoupa Fish Head, chopped into pieces
- 1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
- 3-4 tablespoons oil
- 2.5 cups water
- 1 bunch polyganum leaves, laksa leaves
- 4-6 okras, cut into halves diagonally
- Salt to taste
- Sugar to taste, optional
Spice Paste:
- 1-2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, cut into small pieces
- 1 small turmeric, skin peeled, sliced into pieces
- 20-25 g dried red chili paste
- 50 g peeled shallots
- 5 g belacan, shrimp paste
Garnishing:
- Bunga Kantan, Torch Ginger Flower, sliced into small pieces
- 1 bunch mint leaves, optional
Instructions
- Prepare the spice paste using a mortar and pestle. First, pound the lemongrass and turmeric together until they form a paste.
- Remove the seeds from a large handful of dried red chilies and soak them in warm water for about 10 minutes. Pound the soaked chilies into a fine paste. You will need about 20-25g (1 oz.), depending on your preferred spice level. Store any unused chili paste in the refrigerator.
- Pound the shallots and shrimp paste together.
- Mix the tamarind pulp and water using your fingers to extract the juice. Discard the pulp and seeds, and save the tamarind juice.
- Heat a pot over medium heat and add the oil. Sauté the turmeric and lemongrass, then add the shallots and shrimp paste. Continue to stir-fry until aromatic, then add the chili paste. Stir until the oil separates from the spice paste and turns red.
- Add the tamarind juice to the pot, followed by the water. Bring to a boil before adding the polyganum leaves (laksa leaves) and okra. Once the okra is half-cooked, add the fish head. Cover the pot and cook for a few minutes until the fish is done. Add salt and sugar (if using) to taste. Garnish with bunga kanta and mint leaves, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Interesting and should be yummy.
Thank you Bee for sharing.
Will definitely try your chicken and potatoes curry and Fish head curry.
Alvin
Awesome!
Thank you for the recipe
it’s really yuummyyy :)
Great post! I’m already familiar with a few of these blogs but looking forward to discover the rest.
Just confused. Curry or asam pedas?
This is a Nyonya curry fish head, which is practically asam pedas way of making it.
I am keen to try your recipe. Can you tell me how many people does it serve?
3 to 4.
I live in Sydney, Australia. Today, I am going to cook it with Ling Fish head. I believe it should taste better than Garoupa. We shall see.
I can’t find laksa leaves here.. Can I use curry leaves ?
Yes