A fiery-sour fish curry of the Malacca Nyonya tradition, built on a hand-pounded rempah of dried chillies and aromatics, soured with tamarind and lifted with torch ginger. The signature home dish of Nyonya kitchens.
Asam pedas is a fiery-sour fish dish of the Malacca Nyonya tradition, a signature home dish of Nyonya kitchens. The Nyonya version layers a Malay sour-spice base with the Peranakan obsession for freshly hand-pounded rempah and aromatic herbs, torch ginger (bunga kantan) and daun kesum, which distinguish it from Malay or Kelantanese versions. It is built on a rempah of dried chillies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, turmeric, galangal and belacan, soured with tamarind, and is eaten with rice.
A bright, fiery, tangy broth that hits with chili heat and tamarind sourness at once, the fish clean and silky underneath, the torch ginger leaving a floral, almost soapy note. Eaten with rice, it is sharp, aromatic and moreish.
The rempah is the foundation: dried chillies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, turmeric, galangal and belacan are pounded to a paste and fried in oil until the oil splits and the paste is fragrant. Tamarind juice is added for sourness, water for the broth, then the fish is slipped in and simmered gently. Torch ginger and daun kesum go in at the end so their volatile aromatics survive. The rempah must be fried patiently, or the dish tastes raw.
Variations
A stingray version uses grilled ray. A sweeter variant adds a little palm sugar.
On the Palate
Where Asam Pedas sits in the Malaysian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
6 steps · 35 min
- 110 min
Pound or blend 15 dried chillies (soaked), 6 shallots, 4 cloves garlic, 2 stalks lemongrass, 2cm turmeric, 2cm galangal and 1 tsp belacan into a smooth rempah paste.
- 210 min
Heat 4 tbsp oil in a wok and fry the rempah over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until the oil splits and the paste is fragrant.
Watch outFry the rempah patiently until the oil splits out and it smells deeply fragrant — rush it and the whole dish tastes raw and harsh.
- 35 min
Dissolve 3 tbsp tamarind pulp in 200ml warm water, strain, and add the juice to the wok with 400ml water; bring to a simmer.
- 48 min
Add 600g fish (red snapper or stingray) in chunks, 1 torch ginger blossom bruised, and 8 okra; simmer 10 minutes until the fish is just cooked.
Watch outSlip the fish in and simmer gently just to cooked — a hard bubble breaks the chunks apart.
- 54 min
Add a handful of daun kesum, season with salt and sugar, and simmer 2 minutes more.
Watch outAdd the daun kesum and torch ginger right at the end — their aroma is volatile and boils away if it goes in early.
- 62 min
Serve hot with steamed rice.
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