The secret lies in working in the spice paste until fragrant

For this deceptively easy recipe, use a whole snapper or mackerel or two fillets, if you prefer.

Tony Tan's sambal snapper is a dish of flavour and beauty.

Tony Tan

less than 2 min read

2 hours ago.

Updated 2 hours ago

The Weekend Australian Magazine

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This deceptively easy recipe comes from the Kristang community in Malacca. The secret is to really work on the spice paste until it takes on a caramel-like fragrance. You can use fillets if you prefer to a whole fish.

Try too my Indonesian beef rendang and pork and eggplant stirfry.

A delicious dish that can use whole fish or fillets. Photography: Mark Roper.

This is an edited extract from Tony Tan’s Asian Cooking Class (Murdoch Books, $55).

Pan-fried snapper with vinegar sambal

Ingredients

• 2-3 snapper cutlets, about 500g, or whole snapper or mackerel
• 2/3 cup neutral oil
• ⅓ cup rice vinegar
• ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce, preferably thick soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar, or to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Thinly sliced spring onion, to serve

Spice paste

• 10 dried red chillies, about 30g, cut into pieces with scissors
• 10 shallots, chopped
• 7 candlenuts

Marinade

• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon chilli powder
• Salt, to taste

Method

1. For the spice paste, soak the dried chillies in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes to soften. Once softened, drain and transfer to a blender and add shallots and candlenuts. Blend to a fine paste, adding a couple of tablespoons of water if required. For the marinade, combine the turmeric, chilli and salt in a bowl. Add the snapper to the marinade, toss to coat and set aside for 15 minutes to marinate.
2. Heat ¼ cup oil in a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the fish and cook for 6 minutes, turning halfway, until cooked through (be careful; hot oil will spit). Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. Wipe the wok clean and return to medium heat, then add remaining oil. Once it’s shimmering, add the spice paste and fry, stirring continuously to prevent catching, for 5 to 6 minutes until fragrant and the oil separates.
3. Add 1 cup water, vinegar, soy sauce and sugar, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened (3 to 5 minutes).
4. Return the fish to the wok to warm through and season to taste with salt. Serve topped with spring onion.

Serves 2